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Loading ...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 […]
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, […]
A Bioenergy Law in Limbo
Wednesday, June 20th, 2007Approved, But Not Yet Law The Mexican Congress passed a national bioenergy bill at the end of April, but you’d hardly know it. The action was only briefly noted in a few national and specialized journals at the time. No big momentous press releases issued from the President’s office, or the Secretaries of Energy, Environment […]
ECLAC/FAO: Bioenergy Poses Both Risks and Opportunities / CEPAL/FAO: Bioenergía Ofrece Oportunidades y Riesgos
Wednesday, May 9th, 2007The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC, known in Spanish as CEPAL) have just released a joint “study” (actually more of a short analysis with recommendations) on the potential impacts of bioenergy production on food security for consideration by the FAO’s Committee […]
LAC Use of Biotech Crops Grew in 2006
Saturday, January 20th, 2007The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) just released its annual “brief” on growth of genetically engineered crops (“biotech crops”) worldwide, covering 2006. While the full report must be purchased, the executive summary is quite detailed and is available for download in several languages, including English, Spanish and Portuguese. Among other things, […]
Implications of the Stern Review for LAC, Part II
Monday, January 1st, 2007In Part I, I looked at the implications for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) of the main body of analysis, discussion and policy recommendations in the Stern Review. Here in Part II, I look at the LAC-focused report commissioned by Stern as an input to the overall Review. Implications from the Back-up Report on […]
Is the Argentine Biofuels Law Already Having an Impact?
Thursday, September 21st, 2006Photo: D&N, in La Capital 19.09.06 This past April Argentina finally passed a law to support development and greater use of biofuels. It appears that the new law (and anticipation thereof) may already be having an impact. Yesterday Argentina’s Planning Minister, Julio de Vido, announced that billionaire George Soros is interested in investing US$250-300 million […]
A Sobering Look at Climate Change’s Probable Impact on the Region
Monday, September 11th, 2006A collection of 20 environment and development nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)* calling themselves the Working Group on Climate Change and Development recently released a report trying to catalog current manifestations in Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) of global climate change and look at probable future impacts thereof. Whether or not you wholly agree with their methodology, […]