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Loading ...UNDP to Help Fortify Venezuela’s National Park System
Saturday, August 1st, 2009Venezuela has one of the oldest national park systems in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). However, most of the nation’s parks are under-funded, under-appreciated and misused by the average Venezuelan, and in serious need of investments in improvements and improved management. This week the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and Venezuela’s Planning and Development Ministry […]
Recycling Ozone-Depleting Substances
Tuesday, July 14th, 2009This week the Regeneration and Recycling Center of the Northeast (Centro de Regeneração e Reciclagem do Nordeste – CRN) will be inaugurated in the capital of Pernambuco state, Recife. The principal purpose of the CRN is to collect, purify and recycle chlorofluorocarbon 12 (CFC-12), primarily taken from old refrigerators. The Center can also regenerate other […]
Brazil and Uruguay Take the Lead in Implementing GHS
Saturday, July 4th, 2009Yesterday Uruguay became the first country in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) to implement the Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS) (known in Spanish as the Sistema Globalmente Armonizado – SGA) through binding legislation. President Tabaré Vázquez and his Council of Ministers signed Decree 307/009 on safety measures for chemical industry […]
Latin America’s First Hydrogen Bus
Wednesday, July 1st, 2009Brazil is known for many “green” experiments and firsts in transportation. Think of Curitiba’s groundbreaking work on bus rapid transit, Brazil’s pioneering work on sugarcane ethanol and use of flex-fuel vehicles, the country’s aggressive biodiesel program, Vale’s trains run on biodiesel, Itaipu’s development of electric cars that can be charged from biodigestors, and the use […]
LAC Projects Receive 2009 SEED Award
Wednesday, May 13th, 2009This year’s recipients of the SEED Awards were announced yesterday by the SEED Initiative at a reception linked to this year’s session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD), and several of the recipients were from Latin America. What is the SEED Award and who is the SEED Initiative? you ask. The Initiative was […]
Brazil Launches HCFC Elimination Program
Wednesday, May 6th, 2009Brazil has just launched the Brazilian Program for the Elimination of HCFCs (PBH) to end that nation’s use of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs). HCFCs became the substitute of choice for many of the chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) controlled under the Montreal Protocol (on substitutes that deplete the ozone layer) used a refrigerants in such products as freezers and air […]
Brazil’s Light for All Program Promotes Renewable Energy
Friday, February 27th, 2009A six-year old program to bring electricity to all Brazil’s citizens has concluded that solar, wind or mini-hydro power, or in some cases power generated by natural gas, may be the most practical solution to bring power to remote places in the Amazon or the Pantanal. To encourage the use of alternative forms of energy, […]
Brazil’s Poor Advance Less in Health MDGs / Pobres avançam menos em ODM de saúde
Sunday, February 1st, 2009In a prior post I discussed how a new web portal (Portal ODM) has been created in Brazil, with help from the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and UNICEF, that would allow anyone who wishes to track (and perhaps influence) Brazil’s progress at the municipal level toward achieving the the UN’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).* I […]
Making the Millennium Goals Concrete at the Local Level
Friday, January 23rd, 2009It is fascinating to watch how technology is transforming development policy in developing countries, how it is shaped, influenced and tracked, and how it is used to heighten the involvement of local communities and community actors in the process. Here’s one example: the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) will unveil […]
Brazil to Release GHG Inventory for Waste & Sanitation Sectors / Brasil vai divulgar dados sobre a emissão de gases de efeito estufa do setor de resíduos sólidos e efluentes
Monday, December 29th, 2008While many developing nations — including most Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) nations — are content to submit the minimum communication required under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Brazil has not taken the easy route. If you check the Temas listing of national greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories, you’ll see that no less […]