Subscribe to My Feed
Loading ...Checking on the Green Protocol
Tuesday, May 12th, 2009At a ceremony today in which Brazil’s Central Bank joined public and private banks in signing the “Green Protocol” of environmental commitments, Environment Minister Carlos Minc announced that an upcoming meeting with public banks and the Brazilian Federation of Banks (Febraban) will the rules for reporting how banks are meeting their Protocol commitments. Proper reporting, […]
Challenges to Sustainable Agriculture in LAC
Tuesday, May 5th, 2009I am in New York attending the Seventh Session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-17). This Session is focused on the thematic cluster of agriculture, rural development, land, drought, desertification and Africa. As is the case with the opening day of most such international fora, today all too many opening speeches and […]
INSP: México consume demasiado de las grasas dañinas
Thursday, March 5th, 2009Desde el Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública (INSP): CONSUME POBLACIÓN MEXICANA 11% MÁS GRASAS DAÑINAS DE LO PERMITIDO El alto consumo de grasas dañinas aumenta el riesgo de enfermedades relacionadas con la dieta, como las cardiovasculares y cerebrovasculares Recomiendan especialistas el uso de aceites de origen vegetal, margarina suave de alta calidad en lugar de […]
Expertos dicen que la calidad de las grasas importa más que la cantidad
Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009Desde el Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública (INSP): Expertos a nivel mundial acuerdan que la calidad de las grasas que se consumen es más importante que la cantidad Los mexicanos consumen más del 40% de grasas saturadas de lo recomendado Existe gran confusión sobre el tipo de grasas que existen, así como la cantidad a […]
Could Ecosystem Service Payments Save the Amazon?
Wednesday, February 11th, 2009From WWF: Amazon could prosper thanks to emission payments, be lost without Global payments for ecological services rendered by the Amazon such as the carbon retaining in its forests could go a long way to preserving them, a new study has found. Keeping the Amazon forests standing: a matter of values, carried by the Copernicus […]
Using Community Mapping to Combat Deforestation / Utilizando mapeamento participativo para combatir o desmatamento
Tuesday, January 20th, 2009Temas Observation: I have long stressed the importance of good data-gathering and diagnosis as the basis for sound action, and advocated getting individuals, civic groups and communities involved in such work. Hence I applaud this effort led by Greenpeace. As their press releases point out, combating deforestation in the Amazon is difficult in part because […]
Brazil to Start Second Generation Biofuel Production by 2015
Saturday, October 4th, 2008Synopsis in English: The industrial director of Petrobras Biofuels recently declared that his company will enter into commercial production of second-generation biofuels by 2015. The company is conducting priority research in cooperation with Petrobras Research (CENPRES) into developing cellulosic ethanol utilizing wastes such as sugarcane bagasse. “This process will permit increasing production 60% using the […]
Climate Change May Hit Andean Nations Hard
Thursday, June 12th, 2008In early May the Andean Community (CAN) released its report on the probable impact of global climate change on its four member states (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru). One of the key conclusions of El Carmbio Climático no tiene fronteras (“Climate Change Does Not Have Borders”) is that by 2025 the impacts of global climate change […]
The Outlook for Biodiesel in Central America
Sunday, October 14th, 2007The UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC/CEPAL) recently released a report* it commissioned from a consultant that evaluates the prospects for biodiesel development in Central America generally, and individually in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. All four nations have expressed strong interest in replacing imported fossil fuels with locally […]
The Changing Face of Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon
Tuesday, September 11th, 2007With much fanfare a collection of Brazil’s Ministers — Environment (MMA), Agrarian Development (MDA), Agriculture (MAPA) — and the chief of President Lula’s Civil Cabinet held a joint press conference a few weeks ago to announce the latest deforestation data and projections for the Brazilian Amazon (“Amazônia Legal” as Brazil calls it, comprises 9 states […]