IDB Updates Its Biofuels Scorecard
Friday, September 11th, 2009From the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB): IDB releases new version of Biofuels Sustainability Scorecard Update incorporates feedback from five regional consultations and addresses concerns regarding food security, indigenous peoples and biodiversity preservation The Inter-American Development Bank has released a new version of its Biofuels Sustainability Scorecard, which will enable users to better anticipate the impacts […]
FAO: Agriculture Should be in New Climate Agreement / El nuevo acuerdo sobre el cambio climático debe incluir la agricultura
Thursday, April 2nd, 2009From the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO): Climate change talks should include farmers Agriculture in developing countries could play crucial role in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions FAO has urged policy makers to include agriculture in negotiations for a new climate change treaty to replace the 1997 Kyoto protocol. “Agricultural land is able to store […]
Minas Releases Its Own Greenhouse Gas Inventory
Sunday, November 30th, 2008Earlier this year the Brazilian state of MInas Gerais (MG) released an inventory of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2005. I found this inventory interesting and this you might too. MG has a more diverse economy than most Brazilian states, being a leader in agriculture, mining and industry, all with different impacts on GHG emissions. […]
Mexico City Formally Implements Its Waste Law…Finally!
Friday, October 10th, 2008This week Mexico’s Federal District (DF) — the zone encompassing Mexico City and its environs — published the implementing regulation for its 2003 Waste Law — five years later than called for by the Law. Although the lack of an implementing does not stop a law from being applied and programs being launched (and the […]
CNPq to Invest R$8 Million in Alternative Fertilizer Research
Monday, September 1st, 2008Brazil’s National Council on Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) has announced that it will invest R$8 million to stimulate research into the development of alternative fertilizers. The program is an acknowledgment of the fact that much of current Brazilian agricultural production utilizes fertilizers from non-renewable sources, often imported, that can create both economic problems for […]
Farm Animal Production and Climate Change
Monday, June 23rd, 2008The May issue of Environmental Health Perspectives, the peer-reviewed monthly research journal of the US National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), featured an article* on the contribution of farm animal production to climate change. Although the article does not focus just on Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), given the importance of farm animal […]
LAC Environmental Trivia, Revisited
Thursday, June 19th, 2008The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) recently published the latest edition (covering up to 2007) of its annual statistical yearbook for the region. As in recent years, one section covers natural resources and the environment. If you are seeking a basic set of comparative environmental data for the region, […]
A Call for a Reality Check on Biofuel
Tuesday, September 11th, 2007If you listen to their proponents, biofuels are the answer to many environmental, energy and economic ills and can do no wrong. They are destined to unseat OPEC and free us all from hydrocarbon dependence. If you listen to their detractors, biofuels are a sham that may bring environmental disaster and servitude to multinational corporations, […]
Sustainable Agriculture as a Key to Protecting the Mesoamerican Reef
Wednesday, June 20th, 2007Synopsis in English: WWF has concluded an agreement with major Honduran producers of palm oil — specifically Palmas de San Alejo and AGROTOR, subsidiaries of the JAREMAR Group — to adopt specified good agricultural management practices in order to reduce the impact their production has on the nearby huge Mesoamerican Reef (MAR). The agreement has […]
LAC Environmental Trivia
Thursday, March 22nd, 2007The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has just published the latest edition of its annual statistical yearbook for the region. As in recent years, one section covers natural resources and the environment. If you are seeking a basic set of comparative environmental data for the region, this is not […]
« Previous Entries