Environmental Policy Reborn in Rio?
Tuesday, January 13th, 2009If you believe Governor Cabral and Environment Secretary Ramos, environmental policy in the state of Rio de Janeiro (RJ) just underwent a rebirth. At the inaugural ceremony for the new State Environment Institute (INEA), Governor Cabral declared that henceforth RJ will have an environmental policy with less bureaucracy, greater agility and technical rigor. To refresh […]
IBAMA Sets Record for Environmental Licensing
Saturday, January 3rd, 2009Brazil’s environment agency, IBAMA, has announced that it set a new record for issuing environmental licenses during 2008. IBAMA is not in charge of all environmental licensing in Brazil: much of that is done by state and local environment bodies. IBAMA issued 467 licenses in 2008, almost a 27% increase over licenses granted in 2007 […]
Will Lula Protect Brazil’s Reefs?
Thursday, November 20th, 2008In September Brazil’s Environment Minister, Carlos Minc, caused quite a stir in conservation circles. He announced that he was sending a decree to the Planalto Palace for President Lula to sign that would significantly enhance Brazil’s protection of its coral reefs, something conservationists and marine biologists have been pushing for since at least the late […]
Promoting Tourism in Brazil’s National Parks
Tuesday, September 9th, 2008Synopsis in English: Environment Minister Carlos Minc recently announced a package of R$50 million to stimulate ecotourism in six federal conservation units (unidades de conservação federais – UCFs) with a view to investing in infrastructure (primarily visitor centers, belvederes and guided trails) and contracting concessions for visitors services (restaurants, guides, etc.). Adventure tourism will also […]
Giving LAC’s First Plastic Packaging Law Teeth
Saturday, November 3rd, 2007An interesting thing happened over the last two weeks. Well, interesting to people like me who’ve been following the packaging waste debate for decades, at least. Environment enforcement officials for Rio de Janeiro (RJ) state “blitzed” supermarkets in Rio de Janeiro city — first on 19 October in the well-to-do Leblon section, then on 23 […]
Now That’s Quick Reform!
Monday, September 17th, 2007When proposing new environmental governing machinery, it helps to have old friends in the legislature. It also helps when people have agreed for years that the machinery urgently needs an overhaul. The State Assembly of Rio de Janeiro (ALERJ) has approved in record time the executive branch’s recently proposed reform. The force behind the proposal, […]
Exchanging Refrigerators and Air Conditioners to Combat Climate Change
Monday, July 9th, 2007The Environment Secretariat (SEA) of the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro (RJ) recently signed an agreement with a power company (Ampla) to initiate a program of the exchanging old refrigerators and air conditioners for new ones among the state’s poor families. A similar agreement is to be signed with Light, another power provider in […]
CVRD to Help Rescue Ilha Grande
Friday, July 6th, 2007Last month the State Forestry Institute (IEF) of Rio de Janeiro and the huge Brazilian mining and minerals conglomerate Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD), with the participation of the Municipality of Angra dos Reis, signed a cooperation agreement for the recovery of degraded areas in the State Park of Big Island (Parque Estadual de […]
Reforming Rio’s Environmental Governing Machinery
Thursday, June 21st, 2007Synopsis in English: The governor of the State of Rio de Janeiro (RJ) has sent to the State Assembly (ALERJ) a bill to create am single agency — State Environment Institute (INEA) — to handle most implementation and enforcement matters involving environmental protection and management of the state’s water resources. The agency would combine the […]
RJ State Seeks to End Era of Municipal Dumps
Monday, April 2nd, 2007Synopsis in English: The State Secretary for the Environment (SEA) of Rio de Janeiro (RJ) state, Carlos Minc, has announced a new program aimed at ending once and for all the era of uncontrolled municipal trash dumps in that state. The program would form regional consortia of municipalities that would a shared sanitary landfill constructed […]
« Previous Entries Next Entries »