Forests sustain and protect us in a myriad of ways. They absorb carbon dioxide and provide us with oxygen, they harbour more than three quarters of terrestrial biodiversity, and they support the livelihoods of millions of people worldwide. But the world has lost 420 million hectares of forest since 1990. …
In 2008 the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) launched four Global Programmes on climate change, food security, migration, and water. The Global Programmes devise innovative yet practical solutions in addressing these challenges. They contribute nationally and internationally to an informed political dialogue. A new SDC report on the …
An update to one of the most comprehensive maps of the Amazon basin shows that forest cover across the world's largest rainforest declined by about six percent between 2000 and 2010. But the map also reveals hopeful signs that recognition of protected areas and native lands across the eight countries …
We coordinated biogeographical comparisons of the impacts of an exotic invasive tree in its native and non-native ranges with a congeneric comparison in the non-native range. Prosopis juliflora is taxonomically complicated and with P. pallida forms the P. juliflora complex. Thus we sampled P. juliflora in its native Venezuela, and …
After a deadly wave of anti-mining protests, Peru's congress will vote on Tuesday on reforms aimed at restoring public confidence in the government's efforts to manage a lucrative and polluting rush for minerals that has made the country one of the fastest growing economies in South America. There were 168 …
President Ollanta Humala has sent a bill to Congress that would give the environment ministry more power to approve or reject new mines in Peru, an overhaul that critics say is long overdue. Peru, a top global metals exporter, has a pipeline of new mining projects worth $50 billion. Local …
Weak turnout on Tuesday hobbled the latest in a string of protests to stop a $5 billion gold mine in the northern Peruvian region of Cajamarca and denounce the government's ban on rallies against U.S.-based Newmont Mining Corp's Conga project. Only several hundred people marched, local media reports said, and …
Antamina, one of the world's biggest copper-zinc mines, is facing community opposition and government inquiries after its pipeline burst nearly two weeks ago exposing more than 200 people to a mineral slurry. Two regulators, the OEFA office of environmental oversight and the mining agency Osinergmin, said on Monday they are …
Access to affordable, reliable and clean energy is fundamental for poverty reduction and sustainable development; without it, the Millennium Development Goals cannot be achieved. Electrification, along with access to modern cooking fuels and mechanical power, is a catalyst for improvements in the fields of poverty reduction, food security, health, education …
The mystery surrounding the deaths of at least 877 dolphins in Peru deepened on Wednesday as the government said human activity was not to blame but failed to pinpoint a natural cause for the massive die-off. A final report from the Peruvian government's Ocean Institute, which manages one of the …
A Peruvian minister has denied claims that explosions used in oil exploration are to blame for the deaths of hundreds of dolphins. Fisheries Minister Gladys Triveno said a government investigation showed that natural causes were to blame. She contradicted a study by an environmental group which suggested that explosions had …
A microfinance provider in Karnataka has been selected alongside seven other organisations from Peru, Indonesia, Cambodia and Afghanistan as a finalist for the Ashden Awards, the world’s leading green energy prize. The finalists will compete for over £120,000 pound prize, with the winners to be announced at a prestigious ceremony …
While its Latin American neighbors move forward with national climate laws, Argentina is backsliding on actions to tackle its greenhouse gas emissions as the country struggles to meet energy demand from a fast-growing middle class. Argentina's GDP grew 7.3 percent last year, driving demand for energy that is overwhelmingly derived …
Late last year, fishermen began finding dead dolphins, hundreds of them, washed up on Peru’s northern coast. Now, seabirds have begun dying, too, and the government has yet to conclusively pinpoint a cause. Officials insist that the two die-offs are unrelated. The dolphins are succumbing to a virus, they suggest, …
Colonial cinnabar mining and refining began in Huancavelica, Peru, in 1564. With a local source of mercury, the amalgamation process was adopted to refine silver in Potosí, Bolivia, in the early 1570s. As a result, large quantities of mercury were released into the environment. Original Source
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 …
Newmont Mining has shown its "willingness" to improve the environmental mitigation plan for its proposed gold mine known as Conga, Peru's government said on Monday, as it seeks to overcome opposition to the mine. Mines and Energy Minister Jorge Merino said he would confer with officials from U.S.-based Newmont to …
Peruvian President Ollanta Humala said on Friday that U.S.-based Newmont Mining should carry out a more ambitious environmental mitigation plan if it hopes to build its $4.8 billion Conga gold mine project. Humala, who urged community activists to stop protesting against the stalled mine's construction, said the government would make …
Peruvian authorities are still trying to unravel the mystery of why hundreds of dolphins ended up dead on beaches in the country over the past 2 1/2 months. Deputy Environment Minister Gabriel Quijandria told The Associated Press in an interview on Friday that studies are incomplete but officials hope to …
Peruvian President Ollanta Humala said on Friday that U.S.-based Newmont Mining should carry out a more ambitious environmental mitigation plan if it hopes to build its $4.8 billion Conga gold mine project. Humala, who urged community activists to stop protesting against the stalled mine's construction, said the government would make …
