EUROPE: &#39Biofuels Can Hurt the Poor&#39

A body tasked with shaping European Union policy on biofuels is dominated by companies with a vested interest in promoting this source of energy, environmentalists have claimed.

DEVELOPMENT: Food to Biofuels a "Recipe for Disaster"

A long-held basic human right, the right to adequate food for the world's 854 million hungry people, is being threatened once again - this time by the conversion of wheat, sugar, palm oil and maize into agricultural fuel.

DEVELOPMENT: Subsidies Dip a Little, But Nowhere Near Decline

Rich countries have failed to carry out reform of their domestic farm subsidies programmes to reduce distortions in global trade, says a senior official of the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a grouping of 30 wealthy nations.

ENVIRONMENT: Biofuels – Great Green Hope or Swindle

A raft of new studies reveal European and American multibillion dollar support for biofuels is unsustainable, environmentally destructive and much more about subsidising agri-business corporations than combating global warming.

ENVIRONMENT-LATAM: Ethical Development to Cool Off the Planet

Brazilian Environment Minister Marina Silva suggested an ethically and politically sustainable development model at a conference in this southeastern Brazilian city that has brought together national and international authorities and experts, business leaders and researchers to discuss solutions to fight climate change in the region.

ENERGY-MALAYSIA: Subsidising Gas to Private Power – State Utility Pays

A staggering 27.6 billion ringgit (8.2 billion US dollars); that's the amount the Malaysian public has incurred through gas subsidies given out over the years to private power producers by national petroleum corporation Petronas.

ENERGY: Report Challenges EU Subsidies for Biofuels

The European Union's support for biofuels may not be the most cost-effective way for the 27-country bloc to tackle climate change, a new study has concluded.

ENERGY-SWEDEN: Wood Cellulose – Alternative to Brazilian Ethanol?

The world’s car makers are racing each other to produce powerful new models that run on ethanol-based fuels for the booming Swedish market.

ENVIRONMENT-MALAYSIA: Soft Loans for Reforestation or Deforestation?

With a dozen timber firms set to receive new government soft loans to finance ‘reforestation’ projects, critics are saying that the money will translate into logging subsidies for the timber lobby.

DEVELOPMENT: Mutiny Shakes U.S. Food Aid Industry

One of the largest international aid organisations in the world turned the food aid industry on its head recently by declaring that they will turn down 46 million dollars in food subsidies from the U.S. government.

ENERGY: Biofuel Seen as Boost for Poor Farmers

The world's rural poor could benefit from a boom in fuel wrung from crops, despite worries that an accompanying surge in food prices could result in more hunger, say environmental and food experts.

ENVIRONMENT-PAKISTAN: Drip Irrigation – Answer to Water Shortages

Faced with acute water shortages, the Pakistan government has launched a 1.3 billion US dollar subsidised drip irrigation programme that could help reduce wastage over the next five years.

BRAZIL-MEXICO: Lula’s ‘Ethanol Diplomacy’ Yields Harvest

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has incorporated Mexico into his regional strategy to promote ethanol production.

BRAZIL: Amazon Fruit Gatherers Face Biofuel Dilemma

The babaçú, an abundant native palm tree in the eastern Amazon and in the north and northeast of Brazil, has great potential for the production of "biodiesel" and biomass fuel, but the women who make their living from gathering its fruit fear the loss of their traditional source of income.

Q&A: South-South Cooperation &#39Can Change the Geography of the Planet&#39

Brazil's Foreign Minister Celso Amorim, who also heads his country's delegation in multilateral trade negotiations, believes cooperation among developing countries can change the way people perceive the world.

AGRICULTURE-MALAYSIA: Big Top-Down Farm Revival Powered By Business

The Malaysian government is unveiling an economic master-plan that it hopes will "revolutionise" farming and transform the economies of four northern states.

ENERGY: Biofuels Pushing Up Food Aid Prices

A dramatic increase in the production of biofuels has led to rising food prices with serious implications for developing countries reliant on food aid to combat famine.

ENVIRONMENT: Clean or Not Thailand Sees Dollars in Palm Oil

The new governor of this southern province has set his sights on another prize to add to its list of unique features. ‘’We are aiming to be the palm oil capital of Thailand,’’ says Siwa Sirisoawaluk who has been Krabi’s chief administrator for nine months.

ENVIRONMENT: EU Finds Green Reasons Against Biofuels

European Union officials have signalled that they will ban subsidies for biofuels in cases where their production causes serious environmental damage.

ENVIRONMENT: Cellulosic Ethanol – Clean but Worth Unproven

With biofuels being blamed for rising food prices and offering limited environmental benefits, diverse luminaries like former U.S. vice-president Al Gore and Microsoft’s Bill Gates are throwing their considerable support behind cellulosic ethanol, a second generation biofuel.

MERCOSUR: Asymmetry Sets the Agenda

While they wait for the right time to resume negotiations with the European Union, the member countries of Mercosur are focusing on mechanisms to counterbalance the comparative disadvantages experienced by its smaller economies with respect to its two largest ones.