Environment

Little Concern for the Environment in EU-Central America Agreement

By Danilo Valladares
The Association Agreement between Central America and the European Union (EU) will increase environmental and social pressures on the region, warn experts and activists. But some observers stress its potentially positive impacts.

New Plans to Protect Nature

By Amantha Perera
At the close of the ten-day World Conservation Congress that ran from Sept. 6-15 on the South Korean island of Jeju, members of the convening International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) agreed on an ambitious four-year action plan for protecting global natural resources.

Deeper CO2 Cuts Needed to Save Corals

By Stephen Leahy
Limiting climate change to two degrees C won't save most coral reefs, according to new, state-of-the-art research.

Companies Calculate Their Debt to Planet Earth

By Amantha Perera
As ravenous consumers of natural resources, companies are beginning to recognise that they owe a monetary debt to the planet, and are sharpening their pencils to calculate it.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Unregulated Urbanization Threatens Remaining Atlantic Forest

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Coastal preservation areas in the north of the state of São Paulo are endangered by the increase in population and facilities installed for oil exploration and the expansion of two ports, according to a report by the Sustainable Coasts Project.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: New IDB Loan for Disaster Management

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has granted a five-million-dollar loan to Honduras to help it more effectively confront natural disasters like hurricanes and earthquakes.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Informal Mining Affects Caura River Basin

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The Caura River basin, an area of roughly five million hectares in southeastern Venezuela, is beginning to suffer the impacts of mining activity by "garimpeiros", illegal gold miners from Brazil, warn indigenous and environmental organizations.

Floods Dampen Thai Adaptation Plans

By Marwaan Macan-Markar
Thailand’s flood-management blueprint  received a jolt when the dykes in Sukhothai were breached by the rain-swollen Yom river last week, submerging large stretches of the former royal capital.

Saving the Top 100 Threatened Species – a Question of Valuing Life

By Amantha Perera
The Red River Giant softshell turtle (Rafetus swinhoei) is the stuff of legend in Vietnam. The fabled turtle in Hanoi’s Hoan Kiem Lake is popularly known by the name Kim Qui or Golden Turtle God, and it made its first historical appearance in 250 BC.
Elephant head with tusks removed by poachers, Voi area, Kenya. Credit: cc by 3.0

Ivory Ban Fails to Stem Surge in Elephant Poaching

By Carey L. Biron
With 2011 marking the deadliest year for poaching-related elephant deaths in Africa since an international ivory ban went into effect in 1989, a new investigative report released here Friday points to the ongoing impact of religious custom as well as the newfound economic might of China.

Carbon Trading Scheme Close to Collapse

By Daan Bauwens
By 2020, countries that are signatory to the Kyoto protocol will have accumulated more than 17 billion tonnes of surplus emission reduction permits, a new study shows. This enormous surplus not only drives the carbon price close to zero, but also jeapordises the chances of reaching a new global climate deal.

Small Islands Push for New Energy

By Vanya Walker-Leigh
Most islands are well endowed with one or more renewable energy source – rivers, waterfalls, wind, sunshine, biomass, wave power, geothermal deposits - yet virtually all remain heavily or entirely reliant on imported fossil fuels to produce electricity and power transport.

Rio Summit’s Legacy Still a Question Mark

By Zoha Arshad
Academics gathered in Washington on Wednesday suggested that the mixed experience at the U.N. Conference on Sustainable Development, held in Rio de Janeiro in June, has increased the importance of citizen engagement and consumer accountability in issues of environment, renewable energy and sustainability.

Laissez-Faire Failing World’s Dwindling Water Resources

By Stephen Leahy
Growing water shortages in many countries are a major threat to global security and development and should be a top priority at the U.N. Security Council, a panel of experts said in a new report.

‘Cambodia Can’t Afford New Dengue Vaccine’

By Vincent MacIsaac
Public health experts in Cambodia are unenthused by reports of trials for a dengue vaccine conducted in neighbouring Thailand, saying it will be too costly for those who need it most – children in the least developed and developing countries.

Ecotourism Helps Amazon Jungle Communities Survive

By Rafael Acuña Coaquira
The Tsimane Mosetene people in Bolivia’s Amazon jungle region have found a tool to preserve their habitat and way of life: a community ecotourism project that won a United Nations-sponsored international award.
Mobile phones ready for recycling. Credit: Courtesy of Entreculturas

“Two Children May Have Died for You to Have Your Mobile Phone”

By Inés Benítez
"It’s possible that two children died so that you could have that mobile phone,” says Jean-Bertin, a 34-year-old Congolese activist who wants to end the “absolute silence” around the crimes committed in his country to exploit strategic raw materials like coltan.

Auto Production Roars to New Records

By Michael Renner
Following a plunge in output triggered by the global economic crisis, world auto production is roaring back to new peaks.

IUCN Puts the Accent on Business

By Amantha Perera
The outcome of the June Rio+20 UN conference on sustainable development was the undisputed inability of governments to come to an agreement on moving ahead to protect the planet. Three months later, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is proposing what can be done as a collective.

Salvadoran Bay Breeds Hope for Sea Turtles

By Edgardo Ayala
El Salvador’s Jiquilisco Bay, a tiny hidden corner of the Pacific Ocean, is becoming a haven for endangered sea turtles.
Lakshmi Puri. Credit: UN Photo/Devra Berkowitz

OP-ED: Women and Girls at Heart of the Blue Revolution

By Lakshmi Puri
World Water Week recently concluded in Stockholm with a special emphasis on the linkages between water and food security.
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