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Friday, November 13, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Environment
Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Football World Cup Will Emit 11 Million Tons of CO2
The Brazil 2014 Football World Cup will emit more than 11 million tons of carbon dioxide, according to a study conducted by the consulting firm Personal CO2 Cero.Ecobreves – ARGENTINA : Communities to Monitor Clean-Up of Riachuelo River Basin
Residents of the Matanza-Riachuelo river basin, the most polluted in Argentina, situated south of the country’s capital, will monitor the clean-up of the area through a community participation program.
Environmentalists in Rio Worried about Reindustrialisation
The decline in Brazil’s manufacturing sector has not affected some parts of the country, which on the contrary have grown, driven by polluting industries like iron and oil production.
Building With the Next Hurricane in Mind in Cuba
The main challenge that climate change poses for architecture in Cuba is that local residents themselves should be able to adapt and prepare their homes for the difficulties faced in this hurricane-prone island nation, said Dania González, a professor of architecture.
Culling or Conservation?
Midway through Wildlife Week in India, celebrations have been marred by news that 29.8 kilogrammes of ivory, worth 336,800 dollars, had been seized on the Andaman Trunk Road.
Small Farmers in West Africa Need Support – Despite Good Rains
Despite an abundance of rain, promising good harvests for the current growing season, small-scale farmers and non-governmental organisations are calling for support to smallholders to be maintained with a view to eradicating food insecurity in Africa’s Sahel region.
Hour Grows Late to Act on Climate Change, Caribbean Warns
Their speeches did not grab international headlines like that delivered by U.S. President Barack Obama, nor did other delegates walk out as they spoke, as was the case for Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Farming in Bangladesh Stays Afloat – Literally
With the rains over Gopalganj district intensifying each year and much of Baikantapur village permanently waterlogged, Bijoy Kumar Sen had little choice but to abandon traditional rice farming and grow vegetables on bairas – floating islands built of straw and aquatic plants.
Q&A: ‘Mismatch Between Commitments and Action on Biodiversity’
The eleventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 11 CBD) approaches amidst a hailstorm of public protest against the ‘tragedy of the commons’ – the rapid loss of biodiversity in forests, oceans and indigenous community farmlands.
Donors Must Seize 2013 Opportunity in Sahel, U.N. Urges
Reporting that the worst of the food crisis in the Sahel region of Africa appears to have been averted, the United Nations’ top official on the area, David Gressley, warned on Wednesday that the potential passing of the immediate emergency should not divert international attention from what needs to be done in 2013, which he calls a critical year for building resilience in the region.
Cuba’s Fragile Power Grid Needs Renewable Energy
Only 3.8 percent of the electric power generated in 2011 in Cuba came from renewable sources, compared to 18 percent in 1979 – a retreat that alarms experts, who fear for the system’s sustainability.
Ocean Acidification Leaves Mollusks Naked and Confused
Climate change will ruin Chilean sea snails' ability to sniff out and avoid their archenemy, a predatory crab, according to Chilean scientists who presented their findings at an international science symposium here.
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef on Brink of Collapse
Australia's iconic Great Barrier Reef is dying, and little will be left less than 10 years. More than half of the coral in the 2,300 km long reef has died over the past 27 years, according to a scientific survey released Monday.
Climate Change Hits Pacific Islands
Climate activist Wanita Limpus, from the low-lying island nation of Kiribati in the Central Pacific Ocean, says the outcome of the Rio+20 Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in June was a serious letdown for small, developing island states.
Money Versus Health: the Yasuni Story
In 2007 Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa, sponsored the Yasuni Initiative to end oil prospecting in the vast Yasuni National Park, thereby preventing some 400 million tonnes of carbon emissions, if the international community or the United Nations would compensate Ecuador for half of the unrealised oil revenues (an estimated 13 billion dollars over 13 years).Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Eighty Percent of Coral Reefs Lost
Over the last 50 years, Brazil has lost 80 percent of the coral reefs along its coasts, according to a study carried out between 2002 and 2010 by the Federal University of Pernambuco and the Ministry of Environment.Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Communities Win the Battle Against Drought
Three peasant farmer communities in the southern Honduran department of Choluteca have been recognized for the good practices they adopted, through a program sponsored by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), to withstand drought and adapt to climate change.Ecobreves – URUGUAY: High Quality of Olive Oil Recognized Internationally
Although the production of extra virgin olive oil in Uruguay dates back less than a decade, the country’s olive oil has managed to earn a place among the ten best in the world, according to a quality ranking of companies participating in international competitions.
Climate Change Takes a Bite Out of Global Food Supply
Humanity's ability to feed itself is in serious doubt as climate change takes hold on land in the form of droughts and extreme weather, as well as on the world's oceans.
Scientists Debate Climate Change Impacts on Tropical Diseases
More intense rainfall, rising temperatures and climate-driven migration of human and animal populations due to repeated drought all affect the spread of tropical diseases. These changes, already the focus of study by climatologists, are now also a challenge increasingly taken up by health experts and officials.
Caught Between Quarries and Sea Erosion
After more than a century of fighting sea erosion by massively dumping granite boulders along the beaches of southern Kerala state, environmentalists and administrators are beginning to see that this has been a costly and ineffective solution.« 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.
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