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Loading ...Aluminum Recycling Reconsidered
Wednesday, August 29th, 2007A Sixth Year as Aluminum Can Recycling Champion The Brazilian Aluminum Association (ABAL) recently announced that Brazil recycled 139,100 metric tons (Mt) of aluminum cans (about 10.3 billion cans) in 2006 for a recycling rate of 94.4%, assuring the first-place position for Brazil for the sixth year in a row, ahead of Argentina, Japan, Switzerland, […]
Gold Mining in Guyana (Re)visited
Wednesday, August 8th, 2007In an earlier post I examined a diagnosis of the environmental and health problems posed by current practice in small- and medium-scale gold mining in Guyana and the recommendations for addressing those problems and improving the policing of mining practices. Guyana’s official news service, GINA, reports that last week Cabinet members ventured out to see […]
Digitizing Environmental Enforcement
Saturday, August 4th, 2007Minas Gerais is moving to accomplish something no other Brazilian state — or probably any Latin American/ Caribbean (LAC) nation, for that matter — has yet done: digitize its environmental inspection and enforcement. Currently Minas is winding up a pilot project in which its 21 waste and sanitation inspectors do much of their work utilizing […]
The Mercury Threat Posed by Mining in Guyana
Monday, July 23rd, 2007Not long ago I discussed the various environmental and health challenges posed by gold mining in Guyana in the context of a Harvard study on the issue. Now comes word of a new study presented last week at workshop in Guyana co-sponsored by the Institute of Applied Science and Technology (IAST) and WWF on “Mercury […]
Court to Exec Branch: If You Don’t Enforce, You’re Also Liable for Environmental Damage
Thursday, May 31st, 2007Synopsis in English: The Second Turma (not sure how to best translate this into English — Chamber, perhaps?) of Brazil’s Superior Court (Superior Tribunal de Justiça – STJ) has just issued a ruling which, on the face of it (I’m in the process of consulting my Brazilian environmental lawyer friends just to make sure I […]
Cleaning Up Gold Mining in Guyana
Thursday, May 31st, 2007In March the International Human Rights Clinic of Harvard Law School‘s Human Rights Program (HRP) issued an indictment of the failings of Guyana’s gold mining regime and its adverse impacts on Amerindians in that country. With a catchy name like “All That Glitters,” the report’s PR caught the attention of several bloggers and regular media […]
Loan for Environmental Management for Argentine SMEs / Préstamo para la gestión ambiental de las PyMEs Argentinas
Friday, May 18th, 2007From the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB): IDB approves US$40 million loan for environmental management in Argentina Program will promote sustainable production The Inter-American Development Bank today announced the approval of a US$40 million loan to Argentina to promote environmental sustainability in the productive sector. The program will foster the adoption of cleaner production practices by […]
Argentina Gets a Mine Safety Regulation
Friday, March 30th, 2007Synopsis in English: After a wait of nearly three decades, Argentina finally has a Regulation on Safety and Hygiene in Mining Activity. When Argentina passed its Workplace Hygiene and Safety Law in the 1970s creating its Workplace Risk Superintendent (Superintendencia de Riesgos del Trabajo – SRT) and unusual occupational safety and health (OSH) system, it […]
A Free Online Library of Environmental Education Videos / Filmes para Educação Ambiental Grátis na Internet
Saturday, March 24th, 2007This week the Brazilian Environment Ministry (MMA) announced the creation of an online “videoteca” (video library) of environmental education videos that have been made over the years with funding from the National Environment Fund (FNMA). The videos are free for download and use for non-commercial purposes. The first tranche of 80 videos and animations can […]
Bush Asks Senate to Ratify Caribbean Pact on Marine Pollution
Tuesday, March 13th, 2007Been meaning to get this out for nearly three weeks! This is actually rare good international environment news from the Bush White House. Implementation of the 1983 Cartagena Convention's 1999 Protocol on Pollution from Land-based Sources and Activities (LBS) has been hampered by US hesitation to ratify the Protocol. The LBS, in fact, has not […]