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"For the global South, and especially Africa, environmental issues are not a luxury. Arresting the world's warming and protecting and restoring our natural systems are issues of life and death for much of the world's population"
2004 Nobel Peace Laureate Wangari Maathai
(Kenya's Business Daily, Dec. 14, 2007)

IPS is intensifying its coverage of both global and local environmental challenges. We look at them from the perspective of the people for whom the ecosphere matters in a direct way: rural dwellers who have little means to protect themselves against adverse conditions; communities that need to switch to sustainable development in order to survive; poor women and children, always the most vulnerable in harsh times.

IPS has entered into cooperation with the International Federation of Environmental Journalists (IFEJ) - a partnership within the Alliance of Communicators for Sustainable Development, COMplus- and Friends of the Earth International (FOEI), and is building new alliances in order to expand its independent coverage of the issues that will determine our future and that of our children. IPS also created the award-winning Tierramérica, a specialised information service on environment and development, sponsored by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and The World Bank (WB).


Winners of the 2009 Friends of the Earth International photo competition
on the theme "Biodiversity Lost, Biodiversity Preserved"

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HUMAN EXISTENCE IS AT REAL AND IMMINENT RISK
by Maurice Strong
NOVEMBER 2009 (IPS) - The current economic and climate change crises are both rooted in the unsustainable nature of the existing economic system. The rapid and unexpected economic meltdown, which began in the United States and quickly spread throughout the world demonstrated dramatically that the phenomenon of globalization and interdependence has a dramatic downside of shared risks and vulnerability, writes Maurice Strong, Secretary General of the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, first Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and Secretary General of the 1992 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment.
more >>
BRAZIL: SHOWING THE WORLD HOW TO END HUNGER
by Andrew MacMillan
NOVEMBER 2009 (IPS) - It is scandalous that in a world of ample food supplies, over one billion people face constant hunger -and the number is still rising. What makes matters worse is that we know how to end hunger, and yet few governments are doing so, writes Andrew MacMillan, a rural economist and former Director of the Field Operations Divison of FAO.
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PRIVATISATION IS THE ENEMY OF SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE
by Vandana Shiva
AUGUST 2009 (IPS) - The privatisation of the earth's resources is a recipe for famine and desertification, violence against women, hunger, and, as happens in India, the suicide of farmers, writes Vandana Shiva, author and international campaigner for women and the environment.
more >>
WHAT WE NEED IS A CLIMATE BAILOUT
by Maurice Strong
GROWING A GREEN COLLAR ECONOMY
by Mark Sommer
MISGUIDED PHILANTHROPY CANNOT FEED AFRICA
by Anuradha Mittal
AFRICA COULD LOSE BIG IN ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENTS WITH EU
by Aileen Kwa
ECO-AGRICULTURE CAN FEED WORLD, WHILE HEALING EARTH
by Lim Li Ching
THE POSSIBLE AMAZON
by Marina Silva
BIOFUELS AND FOOD SECURITY: CONFLICT OR COMPLEMENTARITY?
by Ignacy Sachs
INDIA: AS THE ECONOMY GROWS, SO DOES HUNGER
by Anuradha Mittal
CLIMATE CHANGE: WE NEED A PROACTIVE MEDIA
by Mario Lubetkin
BIOFUELS AND CLIMATE CHANGE: A CURE THAT MAKES THE DISEASE WORSE
by Vandana Shiva
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Oil, Gas and Minerals: Mixed Blessings
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INDIA: Handicrafts Give Rural Women A Helping Hand
BRAZIL: Laws No Help to Amazon Animals, or People
MIDEAST: Media New Battleground for Palestinians and Israelis
MIDEAST: The Lights Are Going Out on Gaza
SOUTH ASIA: Fishers' Release A Good Catch for India-Pakistan Ties
Brazilian Dam Would Put Peruvian Jungle Under Water
MIDEAST: Ramadan Goes Down Under Rubble
RUSSIA: New START May End With a Whimper
PORTUGAL: Prominent Figures Sentenced in Child Sex Ring Scandal
LATIN AMERICA: Ties with China Based on Commodity Exports, Manufactured Imports
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BRAZIL
Laws No Help to Amazon Animals, or People
By Mario Osava*
RIO DE JANEIRO - Every year, more than a million Amazonian turtle eggs do not make it to the hatching period, nor do they serve as food for humans in the Tabuleiro de Embaubal, a series of beaches along the final stretch of Brazil's Xingú River.
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Brazilian Dam Would Put Peruvian Jungle Under Water
By Milagros Salazar*
PUNO, Peru - Seen from up high, the route to Puente Inambari looks like a green serpent -- long, robust and sinuous. The Amazon jungle that dominates this landscape will be underwater if one of the largest hydroelectric dams in Peru (and all Latin America) is built.
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BRAZIL
Sugarcane's Electrical Potential Goes to Waste
By Mario Osava
RIO DE JANEIRO - Sugarcane could replace the energy produced by three hydroelectric dams like the Belo Monte in the Amazon, claims the Brazilian sugarcane industry, which remains relegated to marginal participation in the national electricity matrix.
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Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill’s 30-Year Legacy
By Matthew Berger
WASHINGTON - A surprisingly small number of scientists have studied the impacts of the oil spill resulting from the 1979 blowout at the Ixtoc I oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. Wes Tunnell, who first studied the spill’s effects in July and August of 1980 and has returned many times since, is one of the few exceptions.
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/CORRECTED REPEAT*/AFRICA
Woman Researcher Tackles Aflatoxin Poisoning
By Isaiah Esipisu
NAIROBI - Despite a bumper harvest of maize just a few months ago, many residents in the eastern part of Kenya are facing hunger and starvation. While granaries in the region may be full, the grain cannot be freely sold, let alone eaten.
MORE >>
 

East Europe Takes to Too Many Cars
By Pavol Stracansky
PRAGUE - Quality of life in Eastern European cities will continue to fall unless outdated systems of city life dominated by cars are abandoned, NGOs in the region say.
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CHINA
Bigger Bite Needed into Appetite for Shark Fin Soup
By Mitch Moxley
BEIJING - Campaigns featuring some of China’s biggest celebrities, including basketball star Yao Ming and actor Jackie Chan, have persuaded some Chinese to think twice about eating shark fin soup. But changing attitudes about the centuries-old delicacy, a large contributor to decimated shark populations, continues to be a challenge.
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U.N. Lagging on Water and Sanitation Development Goals
By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations stands accused of marginalising water and sanitation in its much-touted Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) aimed at improving the lives of billions of people in the developing world.
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Environmental Forensics for BP Gulf Spill
By Adrianne Appel*
BOSTON - Stealthy submarine gliders slide through the depths of the Gulf of Mexico with the precision of birds of prey. Robot-like rovers search for droplets of oil thousands of metres under the surface. Powerful computerised analysers send instant results to scientists on board the ship above. All of this to assess the impact of disaster.
MORE >>
 

500,000 Pregnant Women at Risk in Pakistan Floods
By Aprille Muscara
UNITED NATIONS - Aid groups and U.N. agencies are raising the alarm over the vulnerability of pregnant women and babies in flood ravaged Pakistan.
MORE >>
 

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Fisheries Can Play Key Role in Africa
Davison Makanga interviews MARI-LISE DU PREEZ, forests, fisheries and governance expert
CAPE TOWN - Fisheries contribute at least $10 billion dollars to African economies every year. In countries such as Angola, Egypt and Namibia, fisheries are vital economic drivers.
MORE >>
 

Environmentalists Push For Coal-ash Regulation
By William Fisher
NEW YORK - In what promises to be a contentious, high-profile series of debates, the forces of environmental protection will be lining up against those of the electric power industry over the future status of coal-ash.
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Portugal's Forests Losing Ability to Capture Carbon
By Mario de Queiroz
GERÊS, Portugal - Environmentalists are alarmed: fires have destroyed close to 100,000 hectares of forest in Portugal this summer, releasing one million tonnes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Worst of all, the forests are losing their ability to absorb carbon.
MORE >>
 

Geothermal: Getting Energy from the Earth
By Lester R. Brown*
WASHINGTON - The heat in the upper six miles of the earth’s crust contains 50,000 times as much energy as found in all the world’s oil and gas reserves combined. Despite this abundance, only 10,700 megawatts of geothermal electricity generating capacity have been harnessed worldwide.
MORE >>
 

DEVELOPMENT
South-east Asian Highway Hits Roadblock in Burma
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - With its thick forest cover and abundant wildlife, the Dawna mountain range in south-eastern Burma is coming in the way of a flagship highway project being pushed by one of Asia’s premier financiers of roads.
MORE >>
 

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RIGHTS-CHINA
Environment Lawsuits Often Become Lonely Fights
By Michael Standaert
XIADIAN, China - Feng Jun's fight against a local government and the steel mills he believes polluted the water that killed his daughter has cost him nearly everything.
MORE >>
 

EUROPE-ENVIRONMENT
Hot Air Rises at Talks and in Towns
By Julio Godoy
PARIS - The European Union (EU) is failing to fulfil its environmental commitments in practically all areas, from protecting biodiversity to improving air quality in the cities, according to official studies released this month.
MORE >>
 

CHILE
Coal Plants Under Fire
By Daniela Estrada
SANTIAGO - Controversial plans to build the Barrancones thermoelectric plant near a protected area in the northern Chilean region of Coquimbo were cancelled Friday, but not before reviving the debate on other projects for polluting coal-fired power stations.
MORE >>
 

SOUTH-EAST ASIA
China Flexes Hydropower Muscle
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - After all the turbines in the Xiaowan hydropower station sputtered to life this week in China’s south-west Yunnan province, the Asian giant was able to lay claim to having the world’s largest hydropower capacity.
MORE >>
 

INDIA
Activists Use Legal Weapons to Stop Thermal Power Plants
By Pankaj Sekhsaria
HYDERABAD, India - Green activists have various ways of pushing their causes, from enlisting movie stars to launching protests, but India’s campaigners have also been quietly using legal weapons to try to get the projects they oppose, such as thermal plants, stopped or reversed.
MORE >>
 

MEXICO
Environmentalist Peasants Seek Justice
By Emilio Godoy
MEXICO CITY - Peasant activists Rodolfo Montiel and Teodoro Cabrera hope to find, at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the justice that eluded them in their home country of Mexico, to which they hope to return to rejoin their families.
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ENERGY
Is Fracking Even Worse Than Drilling?
By William Fisher
NEW YORK - With cleanup of the Gulf of Mexico barely underway, energy companies are already assuming a crouching stance in anticipation of a no-holds-barred attack by environmentalists on what the industry says is the next major breakthrough in natural resource extraction.
MORE >>
 

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Fish Kills Worry Gulf Scientists, Fishers, Environmentalists
By Dahr Jamail
OCEAN SPRINGS, Mississippi, U.S. - Another massive fish kill, this time in Louisiana, has alarmed scientists, fishers and environmentalists who believe they are caused by oil and dispersants.
MORE >>
 

Climate-related Security Predictions Coming True in Pakistan
By Matthew O. Berger
WASHINGTON - Analysts have been warning for several years that the impacts of climate change directly relate to the national security of the U.S. and other countries, but the link has never been so clear as it is today in northwest Pakistan.
MORE >>
 

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CHILE
Forestry Industry Sows Poverty, Study Says
By Daniela Estrada
SANTIAGO - The poverty rate in the districts of southern Chile where the logging industry is the main economic activity is nearly twice the national average, a new study shows.
MORE >>
 

 

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