Languages
Friday, November 13, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Environment
Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Amazon Soy Moratorium Extended
Private companies, civil society organizations and the Ministry of Environment of Brazil have agreed to extend the Soy Moratorium – an agreement prohibiting the planting of soybeans on newly deforested areas in the Amazon region – until January 2014.
Hurricane Sandy a Taste of More Extreme Weather to Come
Killing nearly 200 people in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean and crippling much of New York City and surrounding areas earlier this week, Hurricane Sandy was the kind of extreme weather event scientists have long predicted will occur with global warming.
Hurricane Sandy Fans Flames of Climate Change Debate
As the East Coast deals with the havoc and devastation wrought by Hurricane Sandy, climate scientists are seeing yet another reason to put climate change and global warming on the current political agenda.
Q&A: Food Production Accounts for 29 Percent of Greenhouse Gases
Food production, including agriculture, represent 29 percent of the greenhouse gases that are causing global warming, say scientists with the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).
Greening Havana
Sandra Ribalta is no longer satisfied with getting more and more people involved in the task of greening the neighbourhood of Las Cañas in the Cuban capital. She is now working to raise awareness of "climate change, as the key reason for reforestation."
Towns in Argentina Unite to Confront Climate Change
Over 30 small and medium-sized municipalities in Argentina are jointly developing policies for climate change adaptation and mitigation. The idea is to raise awareness and work together to help these communities cope with a global problem, say the promoters of the initiative.
Caribbean Faces Increasing Fury of Storms
As the Caribbean reaches the end of October – the second-to-last month of the Atlantic hurricane season – Sandy has caused significant material losses and claimed the lives of 44 people in Haiti, 11 in Cuba, two in the Dominican Republic, one in Jamaica and one in the Bahamas.
Southern U.S. States Inch Towards Renewable Energy
With the U.S. East Coast virtually shutting down Monday with the arrival of Hurricane Sandy, the broader debate over transitioning to cleaner energy sources and slowing, if not halting, climate change is taking on ever greater urgency.
OP-ED: Uruguay – Lessons from a Successful Rice Producer*
Uruguay is in the headlines of agricultural development news this week as it hosts the Second Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development (GCARD 2) from Oct. 29 to Nov. 1 in the resort city of Punta del Este.
Beating Rural Poverty in South America
The development of agriculture through the adoption of technological innovations will help Latin America leave behind its status as the most unequal region in the world, and will especially benefit the Southern Cone, one of the planet’s largest food reserves.
Argentine Municipalities Unite to Confront Climate Change
Through everyday practices like avoiding the use of disposable products and sorting garbage for recycling, communities in the Argentine interior are joining forces to implement more effective environmental policies.Ecobreves – BRAZIL: New Ship Will Expand Knowledge of the Ocean Floor
Thank to a partnership between the government and private companies, Brazil will soon acquire one of the most modern oceanographic research vessels in the world.Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Fighting Greenhouse Gas Emissions with Nanotechnology
The Venezuelan Institute of Scientific Research (IVIC), a government agency, is experimenting with the addition of diminutive particles – in this case, mineral salts such as iron, cobalt and nickel nitrate – to decrease the greenhouse gas emissions that are characteristic of the oil industry.Ecobreves – HONDURAS: A Dam to Confront Drought
“This is a dam to confront the drought, which will help us to protect our forests and to increase our crop yields,” declared Darío Figueroa from the community of Manzaragua in the southern Honduran department of El Paraíso.Ecobreves – CHILE: Campaign Promotes Environmental Education For All
An innovative environmental education campaign in Chile seeks to motivate the public to adopt sustainable practices, through 15 “microprograms” that raise awareness and provide everyday solutions for a range of environmental problems.Poverty Could by Defeated in the South American Countryside
Agriculture is on its way to becoming a top-priority economic activity in the Southern Cone, thanks to the growing world demand for food, say experts from the region.
Extreme Weather Hits the Poor First – and Hardest
The old adage ‘nature is the great equaliser’ no longer holds true in countries like Sri Lanka, where the poor bear the brunt of extreme weather events.
Wrangling Begins Over New Sustainable Development Blueprint
As the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) limp towards their target date of 2015, the United Nations is shifting its focus to another long-term action plan: a new set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Pacific Island Sets Renewable Energy Record
Tokelau, a small Polynesian territory in the central Pacific, has surpassed the rest of the world in replacing fossil fuels and raised the benchmark of achievement on sustainable development.
Japan Struggling to Store Nuclear Water*
Japan's crippled nuclear power plant is struggling to find space to store tens of thousands of tonnes of highly contaminated water used to cool the broken reactors, the manager of the water treatment team has said.
Q&A: Companies Study Climate Risks and Opportunities
Investors and corporations have become increasingly concerned over the effects of climate change, which are being felt in vast areas of the planet and have begun to impact on the profitability of their operations.« Previous Page — Next Page »
Through our global network of local writers, we are continuing our award-winning coverage of global and local environmental challenges, with a focus on the people for whom the ecosphere matters in a direct way: rural dwellers who have little means to protect themselves against adverse conditions; communities that need to switch to sustainable development in order to survive; poor women and children, who are the most vulnerable in natural disasters. Sponsored by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and The World Bank (WB), IPS also maintains the award-winning Tierramérica, a specialised information service on environment and development.
The Week with IPS
NEXT STOP - SDGs
Tracking global progress towards a sustainable world
Tracking global progress towards a sustainable world
