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Loading ...Improving State-Level Environmental Governance in Brazil / Melhorar Gestão Ambiental Estadual no Brasil
Friday, September 25th, 2009Temas Observation: Note how this loan/project is being marketed. The headline trumpets “green growth” when in reality the program is more about strengthening environmental governance/institutions, arguably not as sexy a topic. The Bank argues that this is about ensuring economic growth is as green as possible through good regulation by competent, properly-equipped environmental regulators…seems like […]
Pesticide Residue Levels in Brazilian Food
Wednesday, April 15th, 2009Which fresh food sold in Brazil has been found most likely to present “irregular” pesticide residues — levels higher than those permitted by regulation, or even residues of pesticides banned or not authorized for use on the foodstuff it is found on? Peppers. In 2008 more than 64% of the pepper samples analyzed by the […]
Justice Ministry to Service Firms: Improve Customer Service, or Else
Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009Regulated service sectors are not complying with Brazil’s new rules on customer service, despite being given a (brief) grace period in order to bring their operations into line. So declared the Justice Ministry’s (MJ) Department of Protection of Consumer Rights (DPDC), which is now handing out fines, naming names, scrutinizing practices and issuing warnings. The […]
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 […]
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 […]
Building on the Legacy of Chico Mendes in the Brazilian Amazon / Ampliar o Legado de Chico Mendes na Amazônia
Saturday, December 20th, 2008From the World Bank: Loan to Help Build on the Legacy of Chico Mendes in the Brazilian Amazon Project to be signed today with President Lula will help the State of Acre carry on ground-breaking work in inclusive and sustainable development Approval coincides with the twenty-year memorial of Mendes’ assassination The World Bank Board’s Executive […]
Targeting Key States in Brazil’s Battle vs. Amazon Deforestation
Monday, November 24th, 2008The Norwegian government is funding, and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) is administering, a US$4.3 million pilot project by Brazil’s Environment Ministry (MMA) and the governments of three states — Acre (AC), Mato Grosso (MT) and Pará (PA) — to combat deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. As I’ve noted here in the past, MT and […]
Brazilian States Publicize Consumer Complaints
Tuesday, October 7th, 2008In September the 21 Brazilian state consumer agencies (known in Brazil as “Procons”) belonging to the National System of Consumer Defense Information (Sistema Nacional de Informações de Defesa do Consumidor – SINDEC) opened (mostly on the internet) their registries of consumer complaints, including their rankings of which firms were the subject of the greatest number […]
Brazilian Resistance to Beer in PET Bottles
Tuesday, September 30th, 2008Brazilian brewers wanting to market their beers in PET bottles are not having a good year. First a court ruling that such bottles pose a significant risk to the environment, and therefore require environmental impact studies and licensing. Then a state ban on pigmented PET, and now a looming state ban on PET bottles for […]
CNPq vai investir R$ 22 milhões em biodiesel / CNPq to Invest R$22 Million in Biodiesel Production Research
Tuesday, September 9th, 2008Brazil’s National Council on Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) has announced that it will invest R$22 million to stimulate research into improving biodiesel production. The offering involves four different calls for proposals, and involves funds from the National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development (Fundo Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico – FNDCT), CNPq’s Agro-business […]