Tierramerica
Wheat is one crop in Latin America that could be hit hard by climate change. Credit: Mauricio Ramos/IPS

CLIMATE CHANGE: Latin America Between Hope and Realism

By Daniela Estrada
Latin America has come to Copenhagen with the goal that the wealthy nations of the North pay their climate debt by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and providing resources to developing nations. But facing the risk that this strategy could fail, the Latin American representatives are also willing to accept some compromises.

Ecobreves – ECOBRIEFS: BRAZIL

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The sisal plant (Agave sisalana), whose fiber serves as a raw material for making sacks, crafts and furniture, also produces an effective natural insecticide according to scientists at the State University of Feira de Santana, in the northeastern Brazilian state of Bahía.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Women Learn Forest Management

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Over the past five years, some 11,000 women from western Honduras have learned forest management techniques to undertake community forestry and to diversify small farming operations, utilizing environmentally friendly methods.

Ecobreves – MEXICO: Youth Need Climate Education

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Environmental groups should better coordinate their campaigns against climate change and focus more on young people, says Claudia Gómez-Portugal, strategic director of Sakbé, a Mexican organization focused on environmental communication.
Wheat is among Latin America's crops that could suffer as a result of climate change. - Mauricio Ramos/IPS

Latin America Between Hope and Realism

By Daniela Estrada, Raúl Pierri, and - -
Representatives of Latin America's governments are arriving in Copenhagen calling for an aggressive pact with teeth to fight climate change, though there are still minor differences among them when it comes to priorities.
EcoAndina research center in the Andean high plains of Argentina. - Courtesy of EcoAndina

Solar Villages Light Up in the Andes

By Marcela Valente and - -
The light and heat of the sun are valuable natural resources that are abundant in Argentina's arid northern Puna, or high plains.
World Bank economist John Nash. Credit: Patricia da Cámara, courtesy of the World Bank

Q&A: Risk Insurance and Climate Change

By Cristina Canoura
The catastrophic risk insurance shared by the countries of the Caribbean could serve as a model for collective strategies for dealing with natural disasters resulting from climate change, John Nash, the World Bank's lead economist for Latin America and the Caribbean, told Tierramérica.
Neldys Vivero says there will be jobs for women on the new sponge farms. Credit: Patricia Grogg/IPS

CUBA: Sponge Farms – New Source of Bounty from the Sea

By Patricia Grogg
The ocean punishes Carahatas every time a hurricane tears through the region. The sea combines with the flow of a nearby river, and floods the houses with water a metre and a half deep, or more. Nevertheless, the residents of this Cuban town are deeply attached to the sea.

Ecobreves – CHILE: Alarm Sounds on GM Crop Expansion

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The area in Chile planted with genetically modified crops - mostly maize, soy and canola - expanded from 24,921 hectares in 2007 to 30,101 hectares in 2008-2009, "without sufficient regulations to protect traditional seeds and the sites of origin."

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Eco-Plastic Made from Quinoa

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Quinoa, a pseudo-cereal that is a complete protein source native to the Andes, is also the raw material for a biodegradable plastic developed by Brazil's University of Campinas.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Organizing Against Climate Change

By IPS Correspondents and - -
People in the farming town of Panaquire, population 7,000, founded three centuries ago on a flood-vulnerable plain southeast of Caracas, have organized in order to predict the effects of climate change through a community-based early warning weather system.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Farming Stands Up to El Niño

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Food security is guaranteed for Honduras next year because the cyclical weather phenomenon known as El Niño did not hurt the production of basic grains, official and private sources told Tierramérica.
A digital rendering of algae-ethanol production pools. - BioFields

Mexico Has Big Plans for Ethanol from Algae

By Verónica Díaz Favela, IPS, and - -
A biological process in which blue-green algae produces ethanol will be the basis for fuel production by a Mexican company beginning next year.
World Bank economist John Nash - Patricia da Cámara, courtesy of the World Bank.

Risk Insurance and Climate Change

By Cristina Canoura and - -
Latin America's agricultural losses could be severe over the long term as a result of climate change.
Mangrove forest in Guapinol, Honduras. Credit: Courtesy of GEF Small Grants Programme

HONDURAS: Miracle in the Mangrove Forest

By Thelma Mejía
The beating sun in southern Honduras doesn't stop a group of women from throwing themselves into the task of protecting and recuperating a mangrove forest on the Pacific coast.
The ice is melting on Popocatépetl volcano in Mexico. Credit: Mauricio Ramos/IPS

CLIMATE CHANGE: Latin America’s Perpetual Fever

By Diana Cariboni
"To use a soccer metaphor, which Brazilian politicians like so much, the Kyoto Protocol was the 10-minute warm-up before the real game begins," said scientist Carlos Nobre in reference to global climate change treaties.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Potable Water Crisis in Tegucigalpa

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The climate phenomenon known as El Niño is taking its toll on the Honduran capital, where water reserves are predicted to run out in six months if strict rationing measures are not taken immediately.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Money Available for Eco-Projects

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The "Fondo para las Américas" (Fund for the Americas), created in 1993 by Argentina and the United States, launched a new call for applications to finance projects of non-governmental organizations here that work on environmental and children's issues.

Ecobreves – MEXICO: Green Energy as Source of Jobs

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The development of eco-friendly energy could produce 500,000 jobs in Mexico, according to the environmental watchdog group Greenpeace.
The glaciers of Mexico's Popocatépetl volcano are disappearing. - Mauricio Ramos/IPS

Latin America's Perpetual Fever

By Diana Cariboni and - -
Twenty-three Latin American scientists responded to an extensive questionnaire from Tierramérica. The result is a map of the biggest challenges that climate change poses for the region, from a journalistic perspective.
Vivero says there will be jobs for women on new sponge farms. - Patricia Grogg/IPS

Sponge Farms – New Source of Bounty from the Sea

By Patricia Grogg and - -
In a Cuban village thrashed by heavy sea swells and reliant on increasingly depleted fish stocks, the farming of sponges is emerging as a strong alternative for income and development.
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