ENVIRONMENT: Monsanto, Dow Stacking the Deck, Critics Say

The most complex genetically engineered corn (maize) yet has been approved for use next year in Canada and the United States without its potential health and environmental risks being investigated, anti-biotech activists charged Wednesday.

U.S.: Four Years Post-Katrina, Levee Protection Still Elusive

Four years after Hurricane Katrina, there have been some significant improvements to the levees of New Orleans. However, even with work scheduled to be completed in 2011, advocates say the U.S. government has left the standard of protection at dangerously low levels.

CLIMATE CHANGE-INDIA: Tackling Transfer of ‘Green’ Technology

As Indian and United States negotiators wrangled this week over contributions to mitigating climate change, it became clear that the main hitch remains technology flow in a highly competitive trade environment.

ENERGY-CHILE: Geothermal Debate Simmers in El Tatio

El Tatio geyser field, a tourist destination in the northern Chilean region of Antofagasta, is at the heart of a controversy over a geothermal energy project being developed four kilometres away. The entire area is claimed by Atacama indigenous communities, who now stand divided.

ENVIRONMENT-BRAZIL: Take the Squeaky Clean Hydro Bus

The government of the state of Sao Paulo in southern Brazil has launched the first hydrogen-fuelled bus in Latin America - the first step towards environmentally sustainable public transport of the future.

ZAMBIA: Conservation Agriculture Gaining Ground

Not even the least alert of drivers can miss the sign along the busy road 30 kilometres south of Lusaka: "Look, Conservation Farming Pays!"

SCIENCE: G8 Failure to Launch on Climate

The G8's failure to make meaningful commitments on climate last week pushes the world ever closer to global climate catastrophe, experts warn. Without commitments to take action, there is little comfort in G8 countries' agreement to keep overall global warming below 2.0 degrees Celsius.

Q&A: “Massive Transfer of Power to the Poor” Needed In Crisis

Innovative solutions at a time of crisis, extending services and technology to the poor and building democracy around the initiatives of ordinary citizens are the prescription to combat poverty that Roberto Haudry, head of IFAD for the Andean subregion, would suggest to Latin American governments.

ENVIRONMENT-SOUTH AFRICA: How Friendly is Biodegradable Plastic?

Awareness of pollution and the amount of waste going into limited landfill space is encouraging the growing adoption of products with biodegradable plastic packaging. But environmentalists are challenging the claims made for these green products.

TRADE: Crisis Pushing Emerging Markets to Move Beyond the Dollar

The global economic crisis is pushing countries in regions with emerging markets, such as Russia and South Africa, to together move beyond the dollar-based economic model. Given their politico-economic similarities, these two countries should build on opportunities to share expertise and technology.

AUSTRALIA: Scientist Pushes For Coral Triangle Action

While Australia remains committed to playing an ongoing role in assisting the six nations of the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) to protect their marine environments, a leading scientist here says that an Australian-style of management in the triangle will not work.

AGRICULTURE: A Stormy Time for Indigenous Wisdom

Indigenous peoples risk losing control over their traditional knowledge if the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) insists on strict standards for managing access to information.

TRANSPORT-BRAZIL: Recharge Your Batteries Here

Brazil has long been committed to developing alternatives to fossil fuels to power its vehicle fleet, to the extent that 90 percent of new cars sold in the country are flex-fuel, running on ethanol or gasoline in any proportion. Now the government is embarking on another technological field: electric vehicles.

AGRICULTURE: Biotechnology: Africa Must Not Be Left Behind

Africa must embrace agricultural biotechnology or risk being excluded from a major technological revolution that has had increased food production in the Europe, North America and Asia.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Opportunity For Biopirates?

Genetically modified (GM) crops that can withstand environmental stress may be one answer to climate change but a powerful lobby is building up against the patenting of technologies involved, especially when they are derivatives of traditional farmers’ innovations.

ENVIRONMENT: Scientists Study the Riches of the Mexican Pacific

Mexico’s Pacific coast, one of the world's richest seaboards in terms of biodiversity, has been the focus of very few scientific studies. A new observatory aims to fill that void.

MEDIA-CHINA: Government Attempts to Block “Harmful Content” Thwarted

Beijing’s last minute climb-down on its latest Internet-censorship effort this week highlights the possibility that Chinese communist mandarins’ main challenge in the future lies not in quelling political dissent, but reigning in its tech-savvy educated elite.

CLIMATE CHANGE: 2020 Deadline Is the Crucial “Litmus Test”

"So who here thinks there will be a meaningful deal in Copenhagen?" Few of the more than 600 energy ministers, officials and experts from 80 countries attending the Vienna Energy Conference raised their hands in response to the conference moderator's question about the final round of climate negotiations this December in Copenhagen.

CLIMATE CHANGE: India’s Monsoon Predictions More Uncertain

Predicting the monsoons - a risky proposition despite the deployment of satellites and supercomputers - appears to have become iffier thanks to climate change.

TECHNOLOGY: Rare Metals Could Trigger Next Trade War

Used in electric car motors and wind turbines, neodymium, a "rare earth metal," is at the epicentre of the race between wealthy and emerging nations to create green technologies, while poorer countries appear to be relegated to spectator status.

AGRICULTURE-AFRICA: Seeking Diversity, Resilience and Farmer Control

The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) claims that its "stress breeding", high-yield seed program and its emphasis on grassroots farmer input will boost agricultural production among poor, small scale farmers. But NGOs and environmentalists say AGRA’s Programme for Africa’s Seed System (PASS) is essentially a top-down, corporate driven approach that further threatens food security on the continent.