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 Labelling 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 [...]
World No Tobacco Day 09: PAHO Calls for All LAC Nations to Adopt Pictorial Warnings
Friday, May 29th, 2009From the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO):
PAHO Calls for Pictorial Warnings on Tobacco Packaging
Countries urged to follow the lead of Brazil, Canada, Chile, Panama, Uruguay and Venezuela
Graphic images depicting the sickness and suffering caused by tobacco use should be mandatory on packaging for all tobacco products, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said today on [...]
The Status of Global Renewables
Saturday, May 16th, 2009The Vienna, Austria-based Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21) has just released its latest review of the global state of adoption of renewable energy sources — solar (both photovoltaics and passive systems, such as solar water heaters), wind, geothermal, wave, biofuels and small hydro (REN21 excludes large hydropower projects from its review). [...]
Chile Ratifies the Basel Ban
Thursday, May 14th, 2009Chile’s Congress today approved ratification of the 1995 and 1998 amendments to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal. Ratifying the 1995 amendment makes Chile a party to the so-called “Basel Ban,” bringing the Ban one step closer to taking effect for all Parties to the Convention. The 1998 amendment [...]
FONTAGRO to Fund IDB Studies on Climate Change Impact on Agriculture
Tuesday, May 5th, 2009From the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB):
FONTAGRO extends agreement with IDB
The Bank will manage the Fund until 2011 and finance climate change impact studies
The Inter-American Development Bank and the Regional Fund for Agricultural Technology (FONTAGRO, for its initials in Spanish) have extended until 2011 their agreement whereby the IDB will continue to manage the Fund, [...]
The State of LAC’s Forests
Tuesday, March 17th, 2009The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has just released State of the World’s Forests 2009 (English, Spanish), the latest update of its annual overview of forest resources worldwide. While it does not shed significant new light or offer new data on forest cover and the state of deforestation in Latin America and the Caribbean [...]
Latins Recognized for Tobacco Control Efforts
Thursday, March 12th, 2009At the 14th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health (WCTOH) held this week in Mumbai, India, two sets of awards were given this week in international recognition of exemplary tobacco control efforts. In both sets Latin Americans figured prominently.
The first set, announced on 09 March, were the Bloomberg Awards for Global Tobacco Control given by [...]
Uruguay Launches Campaign Against Plastic Bags
Monday, March 9th, 2009It’s beginning to look like Uruguay will be the next Latin American jurisdiction to take aim at plastic bags. Uruguay’s Minister of Housing, Zoning and Environment Carlos Colacce, with the British Ambassador at his side, announced today the launch of a media campaign on the responsible use of plastic bags to be known as “Sacá [...]
Tienda Inglesa Helps Uruguay Eliminate Mercury Thermometers
Wednesday, February 25th, 2009Last year I posted about Health Care Without Harm’s (Coalición Salud Sin Daño) campaign to get the health care sector in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) to get mercury-containing medical instruments [primarily thermometers and sphygmomanometers (blood pressure monitors)] out of hospitals, clinics and homes. At that time, they were primarily having success in Argentina.
This [...]
Bolivia Bans Dozens of Pesticides, Activists Call for Rest of LAC to Follow
Monday, February 2nd, 2009At the close of the meeting of the Latin American section of the Pesticide Action Network (known by its Spanish acronym RAP-AL) in La Paz last week, host country Bolivia announced that it was banning all pesticides with active ingredients classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as extremely (Class 1a) or highly (Class 1b) [...]
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