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Brazil Will Monitor All Its Biomass by Satellite
Thursday, November 20th, 2008Synopsis in English: The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is financing a project by the Brazilian Environment Ministry (MMA) and environment agency (IBAMA) that will expand satellite monitoring to detect deforestation from just the Amazon region (which has been underway since 1988) to all its biomass. Thus monitoring will be added for the Cerrado, Caatinga, [...]
Mexico Uses Environmental Service Payments to Protect Millions of Hectares
Wednesday, November 5th, 2008Synopsis in English: Since 2003 Mexico has put 3.22 billion pesos into environmental services payments (pago por servicios ambientales - PSA). What is a PSA, you might ask. PSA is an environmental policy concept that is quite the rage in recent years, pushed by such institutions as the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), [...]
São Paulo Launches Ambitious Research Program on Climate Change / São Paulo Lança Programa de Pesquisa sobre Mudanças Climáticas
Monday, September 15th, 2008The São Paulo State Research Foundation (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo - FAPESP) has launched its own R$100 million, 10-year research program on climate change. The new Research Program on Global Climate Change (Programa FAPESP de Pesquisa sobre Mudanças Climáticas Globais - PFPMCG) will have three main components:
an “observational component” [...]
Five LAC Nations Picked for Forest Carbon Partnership Facility
Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008In a recent post on the growing list of international carbon finance sources available to nations of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), I mentioned the new Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) recently created by the World Bank designed to combat deforestation and climate change at the same time. The Facility essentially will help [...]
Why is LAC Slow to Tap Carbon Funds?
Tuesday, July 1st, 2008The Dominican Republic’s Environment Secretariat (SEMARENA) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) recently co-hosted an event in Santo Domingo designed to prompt Dominicans into tapping the many international funding opportunities for projects related, directly or directly, to climate change (”carbon markets”).
And well they should! For some [...]
FAO Slide Show on Climate Change
Monday, June 9th, 2008I found this slide show regarding climate change on the website of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), offering a slightly different perspective than the one usually hears (which tends to center more on industry, transport and energy generation and consumption.
[flv]http://www.fao.org/focus/e/climatechange/soundslider.swf[/flv]
No Twig Left Behind
Saturday, June 7th, 2008The Municipality of São Paulo (pop. 11 million) has adopted a law that creates the Program for the Use of Wood from Tree Pruning (Programa de Aproveitamento de Madeiras de Podas de Árvores - PAMPA). According to the Law’s author, Councilman Gilberto Natalini (Brazilian Social Democratic Party - PSDB), once fully operational PAMPA will [...]
Locomotives Run on Biodiesel
Tuesday, September 25th, 2007Last May the Doce River Valley Company (Companhia Vale do Rio Doce - CVRD) announced plans to use biofuels in its locomotives. I knew that was economically significant news, since in addition to being the world's second largest mining company, CVRD is Brazil's largest logistics operator, owning three railroads — Estrada de Ferro Carajás (EFC), [...]
Cidadania Ambiental
Thursday, September 20th, 2007It is an honor and pleasure to introduce this guest poster. Arnaldo Jardim is a civil engineer with many years of public service in Brazil, first in state executive posts (including Housing Secretary) and then as a State Deputy in São Paulo (SP), and currently as a Federal Deputy. While State Deputy he [...]
The Changing Face of Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon
Tuesday, September 11th, 2007With much fanfare a collection of Brazil’s Ministers — Environment (MMA), Agrarian Development (MDA), Agriculture (MAPA) — and the chief of President Lula’s Civil Cabinet held a joint press conference a few weeks ago to announce the latest deforestation data and projections for the Brazilian Amazon (”Amazônia Legal” as Brazil calls it, comprises 9 states [...]
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