This white paper examines the current challenges for clean energy infrastructure and identifies solutions that industrial clusters, transport and logistics industries, and the wider clean energy value chain can jointly explore in order to accelerate its deployment. Thirteen new industrial clusters from Australia, Brazil, Colombia, India, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, …
Colombia plans to have in place 10 months from now a new system to measure deforestation, which it hopes will drastically improve its ability to establish a national policy to reduce emissions from deforestation (REDD), the country's environmental minister said. Tropical forests cover one-third of the Andean country and according …
A paper published by the charity today highlights the increasing impact of climate change on small-scale producers in the developing world, even suggesting that agricultural productivity in some countries could fall by as much as 50% by 2080. "Small-scale producers are a key link in many companies' supply chains, often …
Colombia plans to have in place 10 months from now a new system to measure deforestation, which it hopes will drastically improve its ability to establish a national policy to reduce emissions from deforestation (REDD), the country's environmental minister said. Tropical forests cover one-third of the Andean country and according …
An appeals court decision to uphold proposed federal greenhouse gas rules may shift the fight over regulating the heat-trapping emissions back to Congress, where lawmakers may step up efforts to diminish the EPA's power or renew efforts to set a price on carbon, experts said. The U.S. Court of Appeals …
What role can companies play in strengthening the capacity of small-scale producers in developing countries to adapt to climate change, and in doing so, make their global value chains more resilient? While some leading companies have made progress in taking greater responsibility for what happens throughout their supply chains, there …
Rapid urban growth in developing countries has created an unprecedented demand for energy services. Cities face the enormous challenge of improving energy access to urban communities in order to improve education, health and basic socioeconomic conditions. These eight case studies demonstrate innovative, successful approaches to delivery of energy services to …
Peru became the latest developing country to enact a domestic climate change initiative in the absence of a binding global pact, adopting a resolution on Thursday to lower carbon emissions in its fast-growing economy. As one of the world's most geographically diverse places, Peru said it is already feeling the …
The nature and scale of pre-Columbian land use and the consequences of the 1492 “Columbian Encounter” (CE) on Amazonia are among the more debated topics in New World archaeology and paleoecology. However, pre-Columbian human impact in Amazonian savannas remains poorly understood. Most paleoecological studies have been conducted in neotropical forest …
Due to rising energy demands and abundant untapped potential, hydropower projects are rapidly increasing in the Neotropics. This is especially true in the wet and rugged Andean Amazon, where regional governments are prioritizing new hydroelectric dams as the centerpiece of long-term energy plans. However, the current planning for hydropower lacks …
Gene banks represent an overdue push to preserve crop biodiversity. It also needs conserving on farms. WITH a heavy clunk, the steel outer doors of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault closed on February 28th, shutting out a howling Arctic gale and entombing a tonne of new arrivals: 25,000 seed samples …
TRANSfer Project published a first draft of its Handbook "Navigating Transport NAMAs". The purpose of the handbook is to provide practitioners in the transport sector around the world with practical step-by-step guidance on how to design and implement climate change mitigation actions in this complex sector. The final handbook will …
Our ability to manage gene flow within traditional agroecosystems and their repercussions requires understanding the biology of crops, including farming practices' role in crop ecology. That these practices' effects on crop population genetics have not been quantified bespeaks lack of an appropriate analytical framework. We use a model that construes …
India may be willing to block any consensus among the international community to ratify a ban on import and export of hazardous waste as sought by the Basel Convention on the control of cross-country movements of hazardous wastes and disposal — a treaty of which India is a signatory along …
To maximize the potential of agricultural scale up, NGOs need to act as facilitators of multi-stakeholder processes that establish new types of farmer organizations, alliances to influence policy and investment, new business models, and innovative ways of delivery market services. Small Farmers, Big Change will help NGOs to build their …
Colombia plans to nearly double agricultural land growing crops for food and biofuel, part of a new investment boom in the country as violence ebbs from a decades-long internal conflict fueled by drug profits. The idea is to transform the vast eastern plains, dotted for years with illicit coca plantations, …
Sardinata (Colombia), Jan. 27: An explosion likely caused by a methane gas buildup ripped through an underground coal mine in Colombia during a shift change on Wednesday, killing 21 workers, officials said. A similar fatal blast occurred at the same mine four years ago. Five of the victims died at …
Torrential rain prompts tragedy, and a need for prevention Floods in Brazil and Colombia When the mountains move in Rio IN THE state of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil this week the rains were sudden and torrential. In Colombia they have been relentless, lasting months. In both countries they been …
A Colombian state ombudsman on Tuesday recommended the government consider rejecting a license for Canadian miner Greystar Resources to develop a gold project because of environmental concerns. The national Inspector General's recommendation is not binding, but the ruling could bolster those who argue the Angostura gold mine project would impact …
How do national-level actions overlap with global priorities for conservation? Answering this question is especially important in countries with high and unique biological diversity like Colombia. Global biodiversity schemes provide conservation guidance at a large scale, while national governments gazette land for protection based on a combination of criteria at …
