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Loading ...Brazil Begins Awarding Building Efficiency Labels
Thursday, July 2nd, 2009Earlier this year I posted about Brazil’s trailblazing initiative to provide energy efficiency labels for buildings. Well, the National Institute of Metrology, Standardization and Industrial Quality (Inmetro) has just announced that first five Brazilian buildings were given the labels in the form of steel plaques about the size of an A4 sheet of printing paper. […]
Vale Invests Heavily in Biodiesel from Palm Oil
Wednesday, June 24th, 2009Desde Vale: Vale vai investir na produção de biodiesel Consórcio será o maior produtor de óleo de palma das Américas A Vale acaba de dar mais um passo em busca de uma matriz energética mais sustentável. A empresa anuncia hoje (24/06) o consórcio com a Biopalma da Amazônia S.A para produzir óleo de palma, matéria-prima […]
Brazil Steps Up Funding for Women’s Cancer Exams
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009Brazil’s Health Ministry (MS) announced today two measures to improve access to breast and cervix cancer screening within the country’s Unified Health System (SUS). R$ 94.5 million will be invested over the next three years to increase Pap tests and mammograms (see table below). In addition, in June 2009 the Information System for Breast Cancer Control (SISMAMA) will be brought […]
Alcohol Abuse Growing Among Brazilians / Crece consumo abusivo de álcool entre os brasileiros
Wednesday, April 8th, 2009Abusive consumption of alcohol is increasing among Brazilians, and Brazilian women are drinking more. That’s two of the findings from the Health Ministry’s (MS) 2008 version of the Surveillance of Risk Factors and Protection from Chronic Diseases by Telephone Survey (Vigilãncia do Fatores de Risco e Proteção Crônicas por Inquérito Telefônico – VIGITEL), and the […]
Preparing for Accidents with Hazardous Substances
Monday, March 16th, 2009Recently I posted about about how Brazilian states are slowly taking up their responsibility under a 2004 federal decree to create state-level committees or commissions on the Prevention of, Preparation for and Response to Environmental Emergencies Involving Hazardous Chemicals Products (“P2R2”). I think perhaps I might have left the mistaken impressions that (1) Brazil had […]
Eradicating an Ancient Disease
Monday, January 26th, 2009Leprosy. What images does that word invoke for you? The stories of ostracized lepers from the Bible, Torah or Koran? The scenes involving isolated “leper colonies” from Papillon or Motorcycle Diaries? How much do you know about it? Is it very contagious? (No.) Is it curable? (Yes.) Hasn’t it disappeared except for isolated communities in […]
Judges Agree: LAC Bench Needs Jurists Better Prepared for Environment Cases
Sunday, January 25th, 2009The Fifth World Forum of Judges just concluded against the backdrop of the annual World Social Forum (WSF) in Belem, Brazil. Since the site of this year’s WSF, Belem, sits at the mouth of the Amazon River, the Judges Forum prominently featured sessions on the role of the bench in protecting the Amazon. The Judges […]
Study Suggests High Climate Change Vulnerability for Brazil’s Northern States / Relatório indica vulnerabilidade climática alta para o Norte do Brasil
Monday, September 15th, 2008Brazil’s National Space Research Institute (Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais – INPE) and its largest mining company (and second largest in the world), CVRD (now just calling itself “Vale“), last week released the first of three reports on the impact of climate change on the vegetation, agriculture, biodiversity and energy generating capacity of the states […]
Improving Sanitation in Belem / Melhorando Saneamento em Belém
Wednesday, July 9th, 2008From the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB): Brazil obtains IDB loan for Belém Sanitation Project Bank will finance drainage, water treatment and improve living conditions for 220,000 people in northern Brazil The Belém municipality in northern Brazil will obtain US$68.7 million from the Inter-American Development Bank for a sanitation and urban environmental program in Estrada Nova […]
Dia Sem Carro
Friday, September 21st, 2007Tomorrow, Saturday 22 September, is World Carfree Day. The annual event begun in France in 1998 and now worldwide, is intended as a day when everyone leaves their car at home and utilizes public transport, walks or rides a bicycle. The resulting quiet, lack of traffic congestion and cleaner air is intended to make people […]