Reframing Rio

Carbon Dioxide Emissions Hit Record High in 2012

By Carey L. Biron
Greenhouse gas emissions worldwide rose by 1.4 percent last year, setting a new record, according to data released Monday.

Landgrabbing to Provide Horn of Africa with Electricity

By Ed McKenna
Ethiopia’s long-term hydropower strategy is proving to be both a source of economic sustenance and contention. In becoming Africa’s leading power exporter through the construction of a series of dams across the country, Ethiopia could threaten the lives of millions who depend on the Nile River’s waters.

Peak Water, Peak Oil…Now, Peak Soil?

By Stephen Leahy
Soil is becoming endangered.This reality needs to be part of our collective awareness in order to feed nine billion people by 2050, say experts meeting here in Reykjavík.

U.N. Panel Projects a Poverty-Free World by 2030

By Thalif Deen
A U.N.-commissioned high-level panel of eminent persons, led by three world leaders, has moved the goal posts for the halving of extreme poverty and hunger: from the current 2015 deadline to a new targeted date of 2030.

Brazil Floors Gas Pedal on Bus Rapid Transit

By Fabíola Ortiz
Brazil, and especially the city of Rio de Janeiro, is experiencing a boom in bus rapid transit (BRT), a public transport system that now has an internationally-recognised quality standard.

The Bitter Taste of Liberia’s Palm Oil Plantations

By Wade C. L. Williams
Sackie Qwemie works for Equatorial Palm Oil, the company that took his land in northwestern Liberia.

Wind Power Finds a Toehold in Green-Minded Nevis

By Desmond Brown
When it comes to generating clean energy and reducing costs, the tiny Caribbean island of Nevis considers itself the leader within the nine-member Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).

Stressed Ecosystems Leaving Humanity High and Dry

By Stephen Leahy
Everyone knows water is life. Far too few understand the role of trees, plants and other living things in ensuring we have clean, fresh water.

Critics Slam California “Forest Offset” Plan

By Katelyn Fossett
More than two dozen environmental organisations are urging California Governor Jerry Brown to disregard recommendations from a United Nations task force to include so-called forest “offsets” in the state’s new emissions-trading scheme.

Preserving the Soil and Reaping Greater Harvests

By Orton Kiishweko
Smallholder farmer Peter Mcharo, from Morogoro Region in eastern Tanzania, has a reason to smile. His fields are full of green, healthy maize plants, he has richer soil and he spends less time farming now than he did two years ago.

U.N. Recognises Wildlife Trafficking as “Serious Crime”

By Carey L. Biron
Environment groups are applauding a new United Nations decision to officially characterise international wildlife and timber trafficking as a serious organised crime, in a move that advocates say will finally give international law enforcement officials the tools necessary to counter spiking rates of poaching.

Leave It in the Ground, Climate Activists Demand

By Stephen Leahy
Nearly 70 percent of known reserves of oil, gas and coal must remain in the ground to avoid dangerous climate change. So why did the energy industry spend 674 billion dollars in 2012 looking for more?

U.S. Cities Joining Push to Dump Fossil Fuel Investments

By Carey L. Biron
Nearly a dozen U.S. cities have announced their interest in withdrawing municipal investments from fossil fuel companies, joining a fast-growing movement among colleges and universities that supporters say is allowing citizens concerned with environmental degradation and global climate change to act in lieu of federal action from the U.S. Congress.

Come Grab Our Land

By Monde Kingsley Nfor
Bordered by a rubber plantation in the west, a forestry plantation in the east and a palm oil farm in the south, the 18 local communities that live in Ocean Division, southern Cameroon, have had an uphill struggle for the rights to their land. 

Krill Super-Trawlers Pushing Penguins Toward Extinction

By Stephen Leahy
Everyone loves penguins, but few will know that Thursday is World Penguin Day. Fewer still are those who know penguins are threatened with extinction by climate change and giant fishing trawlers from Europe and Asia stalking the oceans around Antarctica.

Caribbean Tourism Stakes Salvation on Greener Policies

By Desmond Brown
Tourism, widely regarded as the mainstay of Caribbean economies, is being challenged to remain sustainable in an era of climate change and its impact on beaches, rivers and other attractions.

U.S. Regulator Lodges “Environmental Objections” to Keystone Plan

By Carey L. Biron
Advocacy groups here are applauding the publication of new government concerns, formally expressed Monday by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), over a recent assessment of the environmental impact of a major oil pipeline that would run between Canada and the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Wind Brings Light to Somaliland

By Ed McKenna
A wind turbine, situated some 20 kilometres outside of Somaliland’s capital Hargeisa, has become a significant totem of the country’s changing energy landscape.

World Bank, IMF Link Urbanisation with Development

By Carey L. Biron
Two of the world’s largest multilateral institutions have released new data linking greater urbanisation with higher levels of human development, and are announcing that they will place greater priority on issues of urbanisation in coming decades.

Keystone Opponents Deepen Criticism of Proposed Pipeline

By Carey L. Biron
Two new reports, put out by a cross-section of U.S. environmental and public interest groups, are attacking central rationales for the construction of a major new Canada-U.S. oil pipeline proposal, which has emerged as an emblematic cause for green groups who have angrily denounced a U.S. government approvals process.

Eternal Energy Revolution Picking Up Steam

By Stephen Leahy
“Be a climate-protection hero, not a climate victim” is the message energy experts from around the world are bringing to San Francisco Tuesday.
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