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Archive for November 7th, 2011
Brazilian NGOs Say Rio+20 Paper Short on Details
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 7th, 2011
Inter Press Service: Environmentalists criticised the lack of concrete proposals in the Brazilian government's submission to the preparatory process for the Rio+20 conference, to be held in this city in June 2012.
The document submitted Tuesday Nov. 1 to the United Nations for the Conference on Sustainable Development, taking place 20 years after the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, demonstrates – according to the Brazilian government – its commitment to sustainable development.
It adds that the "permanent...
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Inquiry Planned Into Keystone XL Pipeline Permit Process
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 7th, 2011
New York Times: The State Department's inspector general will conduct a special investigation of the handling of the pending decision on the proposed Keystone XL pipeline in response to reports of improper pressure on policy makers and possible conflicts of interest, according to documents released on Monday.
Harold W. Geisel, the senior official in the inspector general's office, told top agency officials in a memorandum dated Friday that he would open the review "to determine to what extent the department and...
Peruvian authorities raid illegal gold mining operations
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 7th, 2011
Mongabay: Peru's Defense Ministry destroyed at least 75 illegal dredges and seized 15 vehicles from gold miners operating illegally in one of the most biodiverse parts of the Amazon rainforest.
The dredges were destroyed along the Inambari, Madre de Dios, Tambopata and Malinowski rivers, tributaries of the Amazon River in Peru's Madre de Dios Department. Illegal gold mining in rampant in the region and has been associated with water pollution, bioaccumulation of toxic mercury in fish, social conflict, deforestation,...
Scientists unite to put drylands on Rio+20 agenda
Posted by SciDev.Net: Alhassane Abdou on November 7th, 2011
SciDev.Net: Scientists and policymakers from Africa, Argentina, Brazil, and France have called for better scientific cooperation and capacity building in the drylands with an eye on putting the drylands agenda on the UN Rio+20 summit agenda next year.
Participants at the Fight Against Desertification in Africa conference in Niger (24--25 October) invited world leaders who will take part in the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, Rio+20, in June 2012, to make creative decisions to promote sustainable...
Floods show what lies ahead for sinking Bangkok
Posted by Agence France-Presse: Amelie Bottollier-Depois on November 7th, 2011
Agence France-Presse: The Thai capital, built on swampland, is slowly sinking and the floods currently besieging Bangkok could be merely a foretaste of a grim future as climate change makes its impact felt, experts say. The Thai capital, built on swampland, is slowly sinking and the floods currently besieging Bangkok could be merely a foretaste of a grim future as climate change makes its impact felt, experts say. The low-lying metropolis lies just 30 kilometres (18 miles) north of the Gulf of Thailand, where various...
United Kingdom: British shoppers bin nearly 10% of weekly shop, figures show
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 7th, 2011
Guardian: The average British shopper estimates that they bin almost 10% of the food bought in their weekly shop, while 8% admit to throwing away as much as a quarter of their food on a regular basis, according to new research on Monday.
Households could save £50 a month, or £12bn a year across the UK, by taking steps to tackle the growing problem of food waste. Yet nearly half (46%) admit that they do not know the correct way to store it safely. More than two-thirds (67%) of consumers claim they do not...
Drinking water at risk
Posted by NewsDay: Andre Bagoo on November 7th, 2011
NewsDay: APPROXIMATELY 14 percent of potable water in this country has tested positive for the gastro-intestinal illness-causing organism, crytosporidium, according to the latest report of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
According to the 2011 UNDP Human Development Report?released this month?19 percent of water tested positive for the single-cell organism after periods of heavy rainfall.
The disclosure is made in the context of the report?s discussion of the impact of climate change...
Rio Earth Summit postponed after clash with Queen’s diamond jubilee
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 7th, 2011
Guardian: Brazil has postponed the biggest environmental summit in 20 years to avoid a clash with the Queen's diamond jubilee.
The Rio+20 summit was scheduled for 4-6 June but has been moved to 20-22 June to avoid jeopardising the attendance of 54 Commonwealth leaders, including David Cameron. But Cameron, who said last month that he would not attend, is still not planning to attend, Downing Street said on Monday, despite his pledge to lead the "greenest government ever".
Instead, the environment secretary,...
Germany’s Greens: from unelectable to unavoidable
Posted by Reuters: Stephen Brown on November 7th, 2011
Reuters: The Greens have grown out of their woolly jumpers and sandals and turned enough fellow Germans on to environmentalism to make the party -- already the world's most successful green movement -- the possible kingmakers in the 2013 elections.
Founded three decades ago by rebels from the 1968 student movement, 'ban-the-bomb' peaceniks, ecologists and feminists, the Greens got their first taste of power from 1998 to 2005 under Gerhard Schroeder's Social Democrats (SPD).
But they have come into their...
Floods encircle Bangkok industrial estates
Posted by Reuters: Ploy Ten Kate and Alan Raybould on November 7th, 2011
Reuters: Floodwater encircled two industrial estates in the east of Bangkok on Monday and closed in on the center of the capital, disrupting bus services, although mass transit train systems were still running and commercial districts remained dry.
Starting in the north and northeast of the country in late July, the water has flowed slowly south, overwhelming industrial provinces and rice areas in the center before moving into Bangkok over the past three weeks.
It is now only about 7 km (4.5 miles)...