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Sunday, November 15, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Environment
Mexico City – More Grey than Green
In his book "La Ville Radieuse" (The Radiant City), architect Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris (1887-1965), known worldwide as Le Corbusier, proposed a city filled with skyscrapers, wide streets, cement and cars, but decorated with gardens. The Mexican capital seems to be following these principles.
COLOMBIA: Saving the River Basin, One Schoolchild at a Time
"Out of love for the river, we reforest, recycle, and make this place beautiful," says a sign welcoming visitors to the Floragaita school, where a balsa (Ochroma pyramidale) tree with enormous white flowers guards the entrance to the lush green grounds on a hill in the heart of Colombia’s Andes mountains.
U.N. Fails to Finalise Rio+20 Plan on Sustainable Future
After two weeks of closed door negotiations, a U.N. preparatory committee (PrepCom) has failed to reach consensus on a global plan of action, titled "The Future We Want," to be adopted by a summit meeting of world leaders mid-June in Brazil.
Small Island States Combining Forces In Preparation for Rio+20
By the time small island developing states (SIDS) arrive at the Rio+20 conference in Brazil in June, they will have worked hard to co-ordinate their message to the rest of the world about the importance of sustainable development for their countries.
Vietnam’s Climate Woes Ignite National Strategy
Vietnam is hailed as a development success story for lifting millions out of poverty and staying on track to meet all of its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. But the country's future progress is severely threatened by the impact of global climate change.Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Heat Enhances Biomass Energy Generation
The Luiz de Queiroz School of Higher Studies in Agriculture at the University of São Paulo has developed a technique to increase the energy production capacity of sugar cane and eucalyptus waste.Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Moringa Trees for Reforestation and Nutrition
The moringa tree (Moringa oleifera), native to India, is being used in Honduras to reforest the area around the Nacaome River dam, in the southern department of Valle, as well as to provide a nutritious source of food for local communities.Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Chaco Forests Threatened by Cattle Ranching
The Argentine branch of the environmental organization Greenpeace has denounced the alleged deforestation of an area of forest where logging is restricted in the northeastern province of Chaco.Ecobreves – MEXICO: Partnership to Protect Environmental Rights
The non-governmental Mexican Center of Environmental Law (CEMDA) and the public but autonomous National Human Rights Commission have signed an agreement for the protection of human rights guarantees.
OP-ED: Putting Resilience at the Heart of Development
The world's population today is healthier, wealthier, and better educated than ever before. Yet, despite incredible progress, disconcerting realities stubbornly persist.
Expo 2012 Aims to Protect World’s Endangered Oceans
Come May 12, South Korea will host its largest single landmark event for the year - an achitecturally-glittering Expo 2012 - continuing a 161-year-old tradition going back to the first Great Exhibition in England in 1851 showcasing the steam engine.
Renationalised YPF Aims to Bring Self-Sufficiency in Oil and Gas
After the Argentine Congress approved the renationalisation of YPF, the country’s biggest oil company, late Thursday, thousands of demonstrators from different political and social groups cheered the decision outside the legislature.
Standing Up for the Planet and the Future
What are you doing on Saturday? Peter Nix, a retiree, will be standing on a railway track on Canada's west coast blocking a coal train destined to ship U.S. and Canadian coal to Asia.
Spreading Climate Literacy in Cuba
Local communities can play a key role in adaptation to climate change if they are helped to properly understand the problem and take it on board. "Climate literacy is needed," says Ángela Corvea, a long-time Cuban environmental activist.
U.S. Corporations Sponsor Carbon Scam in Europe**
Major publicly traded U.S. corporations, including Dow Chemical, ConocoPhillips, Chevron and Cabot Corporation, have secured multi-million-dollar dubious carbon credits to compensate for their greenhouse gas emissions in Europe, as revealed in this investigative report.
Q&A: Reviving the Spirit of Rio+20
In the weeks and months leading up to the Rio+20 summit on sustainable development, groups spanning a wide spectrum of interests are doing everything in their power to ensure that the outcomes of the summit are actually carried out.
Smugglers Devastate Gulf of Mannar Marine Reserve
Forest officials of the Gulf of Mannar Marine Biosphere Reserve abutting the Palk Straits between India and Sri Lanka have reported a decline in marine wildlife, as smugglers exploiting lax conservation laws in the region tank up on protected species used in traditional Chinese medicines and fine dining.
Bolivia Boosts Incentives for Foreign Oil Companies
Almost six years after the nationalisation of gas and oil reserves in Bolivia, foreign companies maintain an active presence in the sector, and the government is now offering them greater incentives to increase oil production.
Q&A: Restructuring the Planet’s Food System
Thirty percent of food is wasted globally, while one billion people go hungry and another billion are obese.
U.S. Lifestyle Is Not Up for Negotiation
Just before the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, some of the industrial nations, and specifically the United States, were lambasted for their obscenely high consumption of the world's finite resources, including food, water and energy.
U.S.: Citizens Reclaim Energy Cooperatives
As the United Nations and countries around the world look at cooperatives as an alternative economic model for the production of energy, rural energy cooperatives have thrived for over eight decades in the U.S., and citizens in some parts of the country are beginning to reclaim them through the democratic process.« 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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