Bolivia Bans Dozens of Pesticides, Activists Call for Rest of LAC to Follow
Monday, February 2nd, 2009At the close of the meeting of the Latin American section of the Pesticide Action Network (known by its Spanish acronym RAP-AL) in La Paz last week, host country Bolivia announced that it was banning all pesticides with active ingredients classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as extremely (Class 1a) or highly (Class 1b) […]
Making Argentine Mining Sustainable
Sunday, February 1st, 2009Argentina’s Secretary of Environmental Policy and Sustainable Development (SAyDS), Homero Bibiloni, recently met with the Mining Secretary, Jorge Mayoral, to discuss joint efforts to make mining in that country more environmentally sustainable. As well they should: in recent months the environmental reputation of the nation’s mining sector has taken a pounding. Recently the provinces of […]
Now Renewables Have Their Own International Agency
Saturday, January 31st, 2009The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) was created at a founding conference in Bonn, Germany, this week, followed the next day by a short working session of the preparatory commission charged with getting it up-and-running. The brainchild of renewable advocate Germany, with strong backing from Denmark and Spain, IRENA is intended to raise the profile […]
Mexico Plans to Cut 12 Mil. mT of Methane Emissions Per Year
Thursday, January 29th, 2009During the just-concluded 2009 meeting of the international partners of the US’ “Methane to Markets” Partnership Program (MSM) in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico’s Environment Minister, Juan Rafael Elvira Quesada, declared that his country has identified 42 methane mitigation projects that should reduce Mexico’s CH4 emissions by 12 million metric tons (mT) carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) […]
Cuba to Help Argentina Produce Cancer, Antiretroviral Drugs
Thursday, January 29th, 2009Argentina’s Health Minister Graciela Ocaña has just signed an agreement with Cuba where the latter will aid the former in researching and producing antiretroviral medicines (ARVs), cancer drugs, vaccines and other treatments for diseases prevalent in Argentina. Last year, shortly after assuming her post, Ocaña established the Program for the Public Production of Medicines, Vaccines […]
Buenos Aires Province Formally Launches Sustainable Hotel Certification System
Tuesday, January 27th, 2009The Provincial Sustainable Development Organ (OPDS) of Buenos Aires Province just launched formally the “sustainable hotels” certification program that it announced last August it would create. The program will judge lodging in touristic destinations within the Province on their “efficient use” of natural resources, minimization of the use of toxic chemical products, maximization of the […]
Wal-Mart to Reduce Phosphates in Detergents, Promote Sustainable Packaging in Americas / Compromiso de Wal-Mart reducir fosfatos en detergente, promover envase más sustentables en las Américas
Monday, January 26th, 2009From Wal-Mart: Wal-Mart Americas Aims to Reduce Detergent Phosphates 70% Company makes commitment to more sustainable packaging in the region Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. committed today to reduce phosphates in laundry and dish detergents in the Americas region by 70 percent by 2011. Wal-Mart also announced plans to accelerate its drive toward more sustainable packaging in […]
The Ecoclubs Movement in Latin America and the Caribbean
Friday, January 2nd, 2009A couple of years back, while I was working on a series of posts for the Green Team about Dominican cities attempting to come to grips with their litter problems, I ran into some local news posts about how the mayor of La Vega attributed some of his success in cleaning up that city to […]
MERCOSUR Adopts Guidelines on Promotion, Advertising & Marketing of Pharmaceuticals
Tuesday, December 30th, 2008I’ve said here many times that Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) nations tend to take seriously the recommendations, guidelines and other soft norms of the World Health Organization (WHO) on any issue involving public health and/or the environment, and I’ve tried to provide a few examples where WHO work has translated into national laws and […]
A Unique GEO for MEROSUR
Tuesday, December 30th, 2008Last month a GEO for the Southern Cone Common Market (MERCOSUR or MERCOSUL) was finally unveiled with much fanfare by representatives of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) at the meeting of MERCOSUR Environment Ministers. What’s a GEO? It’s probably the best known type of comprehensive environmental diagnosis available. “GEO” was the acronym for “Global […]
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