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Loading ...Finally, a Chance for a Global Mercury Accord / Por fin, un chance para un acuerdo global sobre el mercurio
Saturday, February 21st, 2009When the UN Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Governing Council (GC) considered and agreed on the draft decision on chemicals management, including mercury, this past Thursday, I was in the room. It’s difficult to say which emotion filled the conference room more — joy or excitement. There was plenty of both. This decision had been many years […]
Making Argentine Mining Sustainable
Sunday, February 1st, 2009Argentina’s Secretary of Environmental Policy and Sustainable Development (SAyDS), Homero Bibiloni, recently met with the Mining Secretary, Jorge Mayoral, to discuss joint efforts to make mining in that country more environmentally sustainable. As well they should: in recent months the environmental reputation of the nation’s mining sector has taken a pounding. Recently the provinces of […]
A Unique Environmental Institution
Tuesday, January 27th, 2009Right now, until 05 February, environmental groups across Brazil are electing their representatives on the National Environment Council (Conselho Nacional do Meio Ambiente – CONAMA). The more than 500 environment nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in the Environment Ministry’s (MMA) National Registry of Environmental Entities (Cadastro Nacional de Entidades Ambientalistas – CNEA) are voting for which individuals […]
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 […]
Colombia Gets Producer Responsibility Agreement for End-of-Life Lighting
Saturday, November 22nd, 2008Colombia’s Environment Ministry (MAVDT) has signed a convenant with nine of the most important lamp manufacturers and importers — Osram, Philips, GE, Havells Sylvania Colombia, Carrefour, Greenlight, Mecanelectro, Sodimac Colombia — to take charge of electrical and electronic lighting at the end of their product life. The companies agree to: Advance efforts to design and […]
An E-Waste/RoHS Bill For Uruguay
Monday, September 29th, 2008Earlier this month a bill was introduced in the Uruguayan legislature to “create a management system for waste from electrical and electronic apparatuses.” Uruguay, it seems, is joining Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Costa Rica among the Latin American nations finally moving to tackle the WEEE issue. The bill is relatively short (2 pages) and simple, […]
Minas & São Paulo Adopt a Green Purchasing Program
Sunday, September 28th, 2008Two of Brazil’s biggest markets — the states of Minas Gerais (MG) and São Paulo (SP) — each created in August a state program for sustainable public purchasing and contracting that, if done properly, can have a major impact on Brazilian markets — even more so if other states and the federal government follow their […]
Brazil Adopts New Battery Rules
Friday, September 12th, 2008Brazil’s National Environment Council (CONAMA) just replaced the country’s groundbreaking 1999 rules on the environmental management of batteries and piles (pilhas) with even tougher ones. Manufacturers should take note, since legislators and regulators in other Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) nations will. The original rules served as a reference point for many LAC policymakers, particularly […]
Getting Mercury Out of Healthcare
Tuesday, August 5th, 2008In July the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires (CABA) proudly announced that all public hospitals within city limits had eliminated their inventory of old fashioned mercury thermometers and replaced them with digital ones. Why is that significant? A 2006 study done by CABA’s Environmental Health office found that the City’s public hospitals emitted about 40 […]
Puerto Rico to Regulate E-waste?
Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008A Temas Note: As you know, The Temas Blog is first and foremost about Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Is Puerto Rico (PR) part of LAC? Many don’t include it in their classification of LAC because of its ties to the US. Others do, citing its geographic location and its sociocultural ties to Spanish-speaking […]