In a world of higher electricity demand growth, clean electricity is stepping up to the challenge. Spearheaded by exponential solar expansion, clean power is set to grow faster than demand, marking the start of a permanent decline in fossil generation. 2024 both clarified and consolidated the shape of the global …
Scientists called on Monday for greater transparency over the use of tax havens by companies involved in activities that have harmed the world’s oceans and the Amazon rainforest. In a study published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, they said many firms involved in illegal fishing worldwide used tax …
Brazil cut its greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation in 2017 to levels below its internationally agreed 2020 climate change targets, the country’s Environment Ministry said on Thursday. Brazil reduced its emission from deforestation in the Amazon rainforest by 610 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2), compared to its 2020 target …
Brazil-based agrochemical companies plan to appeal a ruling suspending the use of best-selling weed killer glyphosate in one of the world's largest grain producing nations, an industry spokeswoman said on Wednesday. Glyphosate, an herbicide widely sprayed on soybeans, corn and other crops that have been genetically modified to tolerate it, …
Brazil's protected areas (Pas) such as the Amazon and Caatinga are known globally for the incredible biodiversity treasures they hold. In 2016, there were approximately 17 million visitors in Brazilian protected areas and according to a new study published this week, greater investment in the environmental management of these areas …
From Pakistan to Panama, a steady stream of countries from the Global South have endorsed China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) promoting connectivity since its launch in 2013. The trend continued this week as Senegal and Rwanda inked deals under the BRI banner during President Xi Jinping’s tour of the …
The botanical garden here sits just below Corcovado hill, at the feet of the iconic Christ the Redeemer statue. Boasting 54 hectares (133 acres) and more than 7,000 trees and plants, it is a favorite spot for visitors to roam and discover some of Brazil’s impressive biodiversity. But in addition …
Data from a Brazilian forest monitoring group suggests deforestation is surging in the world’s largest rainforest, with last month’s rate of forest loss in the Amazon hitting the highest level since monthly tracking began in 2007. Imazon, an NGO that independently tracks forest trends in Brazil, this week released its …
More than 200 environmental activists were killed last year for opposing large-scale agricultural and mining projects, a global rights watchdog said on July 24. The British-based Global Witness said it had documented 207 cases in 22 countries where activists were killed while trying to protect land from development, often for …
Brazil, already a farm powerhouse, will account for an estimated 70 percent of the world’s arable land growth through 2050, Alan Bojanic, a representative for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said during a conference on Monday.Bojanic, addressing the Global Agribusiness Forum in São Paulo, said the UN …
Ancient communities transformed the Amazon thousands of years ago, farming in a way which has had a lasting impact on the rainforest, a major new study shows. Farmers had a more profound effect on the supposedly "untouched" rainforest than previously thought, introducing crops to new areas, boosting the number of …
CONQUISTA DO OESTE, BRAZIL - The savannah scrubland where Chief Joao Ponce once hunted deer and wild boar in Brazil has given way to neat rows of soy and corn that a tractor sprays with herbicide. In the next field, silver grain silos shimmer in the hot sun. Ponce is …
President Michel Temer on Tuesday signed decrees regulating the new mining code, setting stricter environmental rules and enforcing mine closures, but also aiming to boost funding for the sector's development. From now on, the mining company will have the responsibility of recovering degraded areas by the mining activity, one of …
Timber harvest from tropical regions generates seven billion dollars annually in exports and is estimated to occur across 20% of the area of remaining tropical forests. This timber harvesting is estimated to account for more than one in eight of all greenhouse gas emissions from tropical forests. Yet there is …
It was a letter of unity and solidarity. “Our forest, our rivers, our land are sacred to us,” wrote the Ka’apor tribe, from Maranhão in north-eastern Brazil, to the Munduruku, who live hundreds of miles away on the Tapajós river deep in the Amazon rainforest. Both tribes are under threat …
California, Brazil and South Africa have all recently experienced major drought, threatening serious disruption to supplies for major cities ('Day Zero' events). How can England prepare for drought without harming the environment or driving up water charges? Dr. Matthew Ives and Mike Simpson of Oxford's Environmental Change Institute, discuss their …
Obligate river dolphins occur only in the rivers of Asia and South America, where they are increasingly subject to damaging pressures such as habitat degradation, food competition and entanglement in fishing gear as human populations expand. The Amazon basin hosts two, very different, dolphins—the boto or Amazon river dolphin (Inia …
Brazil is reporting its CO2 emissions within U.N. guidelines, but those rules ignore significant sources of national greenhouse gas emissions ¬by disregarding carbon emitting processes related to forests, say scientists. None of this underreporting is likely unique to Brazil, but it is perhaps more acute there than in other nations …
The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) recently released a new report, showing that sustainable investment in freshwater ecosystems in developing countries helps farmers reduce the impact from floods, droughts and water pollution. ‘The Water Advantage: Seeking Sustainable Solutions for Water Stress’, shows that by improving access to clean water …
Over 170 countries, comprising India, on Friday reached a historic agreement in London to reduce shipping carbon dioxide emissions by "at least" 50 per cent on 2008 levels by 2050 with an emphasis on scaling up action to 100 per cent by the mid-century. The decision, arrived at after two …
Mitigation of greenhouse gases in the land sector is complex and has a unique set of challenges. The most significant challenges arise from the geographically diffuse nature of the emissions sources (compared to, for example, point-based energy sources of emissions), the vast array of potential management responses, the ongoing effects …
