Tierramérica

Issue of December, 08, 2003



	Current Edition

	Report

	Accents

	Analysis

	Dialogues

	Notable Writings

	Eco-Briefs

	Gallery

	Video



	Contacts

	Permisos de uso

Coal plant in the United States, the country responsible for 25 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions
Credit: Photo Stock.

Report
Death Blow for Kyoto?
By Francesca Colombo
Delegates to the ninth conference on climate change in Italy are discussing alternatives in case the Kyoto Protocol is done in by a “no” from Russia, which would doom 11 years of efforts.

Accents
Use of Biogas Expands in Cuba
By Patricia Grogg
Tierramérica visits a biogas plant in the Cuban province of Pinar del Río. Some 100 biogas installations on the island are using the renewable fuel obtained from organic waste like manure or vegetable waste.

Accents
First Truly “Green-Friendly” Refrigerator
By Marcela Valente
A new kind of refrigerator is being built in Argentina that will replace ozone-depleting refrigerants with non-polluting hydrocarbon gases. The clean technology, which originated in Europe, is being used in South America for the first time.

Connect Yourself
Environmental Rights
By
More than half a century since the proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is celebrated on Dec. 10, the struggle for the right to a healthy environment is growing fast.

Eco-Briefs

GUATEMALA: Protesting Against the Central American Free Trade Area
Local farmers and ranchers are asking the Guatemalan government to exclude them from the free trade agreement that five Central American countries are negotiating with the United States.

CUBA: Cuban Flicker Changes Habits
The bird known as Fernandina’s or Cuban Flicker (Colaptes fernandinae) no longer pecks holes in tree trunks to make its nests, which is accentuating the risk that the species will go extinct, say researchers.

NICARAGUA: TV Campaign to Protect Natural Beauty
Nicaragua’s Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, Arturo Harding, announced a televised campaign aimed at preserving and publicizing the natural beauty and biodiversity of the Biological Corridor of the Atlantic (CBA).

CHILE: Farming Community Fights Construction of Thermoelectric Plant
The rural community of San Francisco de Mostazal, 70 kms south of Santiago, filed a legal motion in court to block the construction of a thermoelectric plant that would hurt farm activity in the region and pollute the environment.

VENEZUELA: Peasant Farmers Occupy Yacambú Park
Sixty landless peasant families have occupied part of the Yacambú Park, 300 kms west of Caracas. The park is the heart of the Yacambú River basin, which is to feed the Yacambú-Quíbor irrigation project.

BRAZIL: Collecting and Storing Rainwater
There is a growing focus on converting rainwater into a source of water for use by the population of Brazil, a country with enormous hydric resources, which are, however, poorly distributed. Experts are recommending, for example, the construction of underground dams to prevent evaporation, and the plowing of furrows with no inclination, to keep the rainwater from running off.

Lessons From a Unique Decade - José Graziano da Silva *
Rio+20 and Beyond: Together for a Sustainable Future - José Graziano da Silva *
Why Inclusive Green Growth Can Sustain Recent Gains in Latin America - Hasan Tuluy*
The Global Food Crisis and the Latin American Paradox - Pamela Cox