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 [...]
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 Environment [...]
Outlook for “Green Jobs” / Prognóstico para “empleos verdes”
Monday, December 15th, 2008While the idea of creating a “green economy” with “green jobs” has been around quite a while, it really started to gain serious consideration as the climate change debate heated up, and recently moved front-and-center during the US presidential elections and the debates about how best to respond to the global financial crisis (here, here, [...]
LAC Legislators Lay Out Common Position on Climate Change / Legisladores de ALC establecen posición común sobre el cambio climático
Wednesday, November 26th, 2008Seventy senior legislators from across the Americas, meeting last week in Mexico City under the aegis of GLOBE International, agreed on a number of key points about climate change that they will take back to their respective legislatures and promote in the context of international negotiations for a post-2012 global climate change regime.
Among other things, [...]
Brazil Defends Sugarcane Ethanol / Brasil defende etanol de cana-de-açúcar
Friday, November 21st, 2008From Brazil’s Nation Development Bank (BNDES):
BNDES publishes book with unprecedented mapping of the ethanol sector
Brazil is one of the most advanced countries in technology and productivity in all stages of the sugarcane ethanol production chain. The Brazilian experience shows that sugarcane bioethanol has become one of the most important responses to the growing need to [...]
IDB Finances Mexican Work on Climate Change / BID financiará agenda de México sobre cambio climático
Friday, November 21st, 2008From the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB):
IDB supports climate change agenda in Mexico
Finances innovations and reforms for climate change mitigation and adaptation, along with climate action plans in over 10 Mexican states
The Inter-American Development Bank will finance the first national study on the economic impact of climate change, measures to mitigate that impact and climate change [...]
Research Agenda Agreed on Climate Change and Health
Thursday, October 9th, 2008From the World Health Organization (WHO):
WHO agreed on a research agenda on climate change and public health
A meeting of experts convened by the World Health Organization (WHO) in Madrid agreed today to a research agenda to develop an evidence-based framework for action on the human health implications of climate change. The plan builds on a [...]
FAO Calls for Review of the Risks & Opportunities of Biofuels / La FAO pide nueva revista de los riesgos y oportunidades de los biocombustibles
Tuesday, October 7th, 2008From the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO):
Annual report weighs opportunities and risks of biofuels
Biofuel policies and subsidies should be urgently reviewed in order to preserve the goal of world food security, protect poor farmers, promote broad-based rural development and ensure environmental sustainability, FAO said today in a new edition of its annual flagship publication [...]
The CEC’s “Annotated Bibliography” on Environmental Impacts of Biofuels
Sunday, October 5th, 2008Normally I would not stick an annotated bibliography in the Temas Recommended Reading List, much less do a review of the “bibliography.” But the North American Commission on Environmental Cooperation (CEC) recently released an “Annotated Bibliography on the Environmental Effects of Biofuels” that I find a bit unusual and noteworthy.
It’s more like a review of [...]
Brazil to Start Second Generation Biofuel Production by 2015
Saturday, October 4th, 2008Synopsis in English: The industrial director of Petrobras Biofuels recently declared that his company will enter into commercial production of second-generation biofuels by 2015. The company is conducting priority research in cooperation with Petrobras Research (CENPRES) into developing cellulosic ethanol utilizing wastes such as sugarcane bagasse. “This process will permit increasing production 60% using the [...]
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