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World Economic Forum
 Amidst
criticisms from civil society groups, more than a
thousand executives from the world's biggest corporations,
national leaders and economists gathered in Davos,
Switzerland for the annual meeting of the World
Economic Forum, a defender of the current globalization
process. Just days early, in Mumbai, India, some 100,000
people gathered to assert that "another world
is possible."
Prosperity
and security were the central issues of the WEF,
also known simply as "Davos", which in addition
to executives and political leaders, drew academics,
non-governmental organization activists and religious
leaders.
Founded in 1971, the Davos Forum
has attempted to find solutions to the world's economic
problems through its annual workshops and panel discussions.
Its critics say the aim of these meetings is to seek
ways to benefit the participants at the cost of global
society and the environment.
In part as a response to criticisms
of its closed-door meetings, since 2003 the WEF has
held forums open to the public. The topic
of debate this year was "Globalization or Deglobalization
for the Benefit of the Poorest?"
Taking place in parallel to the
WEF was the alternative meet known as Public
Eye on Davos, a project of a coalition of non-governmental
organizations from around the world.
Environmental watchdog Friends
of the Earth notes that the first report of the
WEF's Global
Governance Initiative reveals just how big business
fails to protect the Earth's natural resources and
to attend to the needs of the poorest populations.
The initiative was designed to monitor progress on
global efforts to implement the plans established
by the United Nations Millennium
Declaration. The report shows that the international
community merited three points, out of 10, in areas
like the environment, human rights and security.
As a counterweight to the Davos
Forum, the World Social
Forum was created, the objective being to create
a platform for discussing strategies in opposition
to the WEF's model of neoliberal economic globalization.
One of the criticisms of both
the World Economic Forum and the World Social Forum
as that they failed to produce concrete results. IPS
news agency provided broad coverage of the two
international events.
World
Economic Forum Annual Meeting
Public
Eye on Davos
Global
Governance Initiative
Friends of the Earth
Global
Greenhouse Gas Register
World Social Forum
Anti-nuclear Treaties
Under suspicion of violating
international rules against the proliferation of nuclear
weapons, in late 2003 Iran signed a protocol
that opens the doors to unrestricted inspections
of its national territory. The apparently innumerable
efforts to stop the global arms race have proved insufficient.
The protocol that Iran signed
requires states to provide a detailed declaration
of their nuclear activities. In February 2004 the
first report of inspections will be presented, after
a year of investigations.
Other countries are also under
international scrutiny.
Media
reports indicate that Libya's announcements in
December 2003 that it had renounced acquisition of
weapons of mass destruction and would cooperate with
United Nations inspections of its nuclear installations
came after months of secret talks with London and
Washington.
But contrary to expectations,
the United States then took a step against the tide
by beginning development of new
atomic weapons.
The decision harks back to the
Cold
War, when the superpowers of the time, the United
States and the Soviet Union, were enmeshed in an arms
race that led to the proliferation of nuclear bombs.
Britain, France, China, India,
Israel and Pakistan joined the club of nations possessing
nuclear arms. Today, an estimated 28,000
atomic bombs exist worldwide.
Among the numerous disarmament
agreements, the Non-Proliferation
Treaty stands out. Since 1968 it has been the
main international commitment to prevent the multiplication
of nuclear arms and arms technology. It is the only
legally binding multilateral treaty and has been ratified
by the greatest number of countries.
Compliance with the treaty is
verified through inspections led by the International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
An accord specific to Latin America
is the Treaty
on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, signed
in Mexico in 1967. It calls for nuclear technology
to be used for peaceful purposes only, such as generating
electricity.
The United States and Russia
signed the Strategic
Offensive Reductions Treaty, which commits both
sides to reducing their nuclear stockpiles so that
by the end of 2012 their totals do not surpass 1,700-2,200
bombs in each country.
The Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace website offers
an extensive list of references on treaties, reports
and analyses related to nuclear weapons.
Iran
Signs Additional Protocol on Nuclear Safeguards
Libya
Cooperated Fully with UN Nuclear Inspectors
New
Era of Nuclear Weapons
The
Cold War
Non-Proliferation
Treaty
Nuclear
Numbers - global stockpiles
Latin
American and Caribbean Treaty on the Prohibition of
Nuclear Weapons
International Atomic
Energy Agency
United Nations
Security Council
Strategic
Offensive Reductions Treaty
Bureau of Non
Proliferation
Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace
Electronic Waste
Mountains of outdated electronics
are accumulating in landfills around the world. A
new law in the U.S. state of California seeks to fight
the problem through a recycling program to enter into
force in July.
A pioneer in this area, the new
California law, known as SB20,
establishes that the consumer will pay six to 10 dollars
at the time of purchase of each electronic item that
contains heavy metals, such as lead, mercury, or cadmium.
The products covered by this
legislation are mostly televisions and computers.
Items with screens measuring less than four inches
are excluded.
Once the electronic device has
become outdated or no long works, the consumer can
hand it over to a recycling
center, free of charge. Currently, consumers pay
recyclers around 20 dollars per item.
Estimates
are that more than 22 million computers are sold every
year in the United States alone. With the constant
development of new technology, computers become obsolete
in just two years.
Among the biggest concerns about
electronic waste in landfills is the impact on the
environment, as the chemical compounds contaminate
the soil and can filter into underground water supplies.
And the process of recycling
is not free of controversy. In the United States,
the Silicon Valley Toxics
Coalition denounced that Dell Computers obsolete
machines were being recycled by prisoners who did
not have the minimum protection for working with the
dangerous substances.
A large portion of electronic
waste is exported to developing countries, particularly
in Asia, where companies restore used computers or
dismantle the machines to recover metals like gold
and copper. The practice is under scrutiny by the
Basil Convention, which aims to prevent industrialized
countries from transferring dangerous waste to developing
countries.
While the European
Union is working to eliminate the use of toxic
materials in electronics by 2007, in Latin America,
Brazil has had a program
since 2000 under which manufacturers and importers
of batteries containing heavy metals must take responsibility
for collecting and recycling the used products.
Other efforts include "eco-labeling"
of computers, which takes into consideration the design
and use of materials, energy efficiency and manufacturing
processes.
SB20
law
Recycling centers
RMD
Technologies
Corporate
strategies for electronics recycling: A tale of two
systems
e-Junk
Explosion
Silicon Valley Toxics
Coalition
Dell Computers
Eco-labels
for computers
Ten Years of NAFTA
Amidst both enthusiastic applause
and loud condemnation, the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA)
reaches its 10th anniversary on Jan. 1, 2004. Relegated
to the back seat, environment and labor rights have
been only accessory issues in that trajectory.
NAFTA is a regional treaty involving
Canada, Mexico and the United States to create a free
trade zone and, originally, with a goal of opening
borders in 2005. Other objectives
include eliminating trade barriers and facilitating
trans-border circulation of goods and services, respecting
competition, increasing investment opportunities and
ensuring intellectual property rights.
The first decade of NAFTA has
left a bittersweet taste. Food
First, a non-governmental food security watchdog
group, says that in Mexico, while economic reports
celebrate export growth -- with more than 80 percent
going to the United States -- the agricultural sector
is suffering the impacts of subsidies for U.S. products,
against which Mexican farmers cannot compete.
Meanwhile, big U.S.-based manufacturers
have cut production costs by moving their factories
-- textile, automobile, electronics -- to Mexico.
The U.S. Department of Labor has tallied a lost of
500,000 jobs in the United States, ostensibly as the
result of NAFTA.
A study about the negotiating
process states that when the leaders of the three
countries agreed in 1990 to work on creating the treaty,
they didn't expect environmental and labor issues
to be important for ratification. But that same year,
a small group of activists launched a campaign, targeting
the U.S. Congress, so that their positions would be
included in the talks.
Environmental groups like the
World Wildlife Fund, National
Resources Defense Council and the National
Wildlife Federation monitored and supported the
process for creating an international body in charge
of ensuring respect for the environment, with the
authority to impose non-commercial sanctions.
But other organizations, including
the Sierra Club,
Friends of the Earth,
Greenpeace
and Public Citizen,
resoundingly rejected the process, and demanded that
U.S. companies operating in other countries must be
required to comply with U.S. environmental laws.
The result was the creation in
1994 of the Commission
for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), which operates
under the terms of the North
American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation
(NAAEC). Its mandate is to attend to shared environmental
concerns and to prevent trade-related environmental
disputes among the three NAFTA partners.
That same year, the Commission
for Labor Cooperation was founded to improve working
conditions and living standards for employees, and
to promote 11
Labor Principles.
The two commissions are the first
to link environmental and labor issues with an international
trade treaty.
In early 2004, an independent
committee made up of environmental officials will
assess the operations and effectiveness of the NAAEC.
NAFTA
NAFTA
- 10 Years Later - IPS Special Coverage
Food
First - Genetic Pollution and Maize Diversity
Negotiating
NAFTA: Political Lessons for the FTAA
Decade
of NAFTA brings pains, gains
Ten
Years After NAFTA: How Has Globalization Affected
Mexico?
World Wildlife Fund-WWF
National Resources Defense
Council - NRDC
National Wildlife Federation
Sierra Club
Friends of the Earth
Greenpeace
Public
Citizen
Curbing Greenhouse Gas
Emissions
Efforts are underway to convert
20,000 hectares of Brazilian pastureland back into
the rich forest ecosystem it once was. Picking up
the bill are polluting companies that want what is
known as a carbon dioxide "sink" to clean
up their sins against the environment.
This is one of the many greenhouse
gas mitigation projects being carried out around the
world, under the special mechanisms of the Kyoto
Protocol on climate change, an agreement that
has yet to be ratified.
The pastureland reconversion
plan is centered in the area of the southeastern Brazilian
city of Curitiba with a price tag of 20 million dollars.
Financing the initiative are
the U.S.-based corporations ChevronTexaco, General
Motors and American Electric Power, which are warming
their engines for the potential enactment of the Kyoto
Protocol.
The mechanism must be ratified
by 55 countries that signed the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
and whose combined greenhouse gas emissions represent
at least 55 percent of the world total.
Ratification of the protocol
is now in the hands of an indecisive Russia. The United
States, alone responsible for 25 percent of emissions,
has refused to support the treaty.
The Protocol contains legally
binding goals under which industrialized countries
are to reduce emissions by 2008-2012 of six types
of greenhouse gases by at least five percent with
respect to their 1990 levels.
Under the Kyoto Protocol, countries
can attain their goals by trading emissions credits.
The buying and selling of these credits, joint implementation
projects (like that underway in Curitiba), and so-called
"clean development" are the three
established mechanisms.
Through these channels, a country
that helps reduce emissions in others is given credit
towards its reduction objectives stated in the treaty.
However, this does not exempt
the country from reducing greenhouse gas production
-- at least in part -- at home.
The World Bank's Prototype
Carbon Fund, create in 2000, is a public-private
initiative for clean development and aims to reduce
poverty.
Its projects
generate certified emissions credits that are purchased
by the fund and then distributed among the participants,
which can use them to meet their greenhouse gas reduction
goals.
In the private sector, the World
Business Council on Sustainable Development alongside
the World Resources Institute
in 1998 launched a greenhouse gas initiative aimed
at developing practices that help companies monitor
and report their emissions.
In early December the World
Economic Forum announced the creation of a global
greenhouse gas registry to facilitate management of
companies' emissions worldwide. The information will
be available on the Internet.
More information on climate change
and greenhouse gases, as well as the market for emissions
credits can be found on the websites for the Secretariat
of the Convention on Climate Change (and the recent
COP9 meeting), and the International
Emissions Trading Association.
Framework
Convention on Climate Change and Kyoto Protocol
A
Beginner's Guide to Climate Change
Tierramérica
Special Edition on Climate Change
World Bank
Prototype Carbon Fund
World Business Council
on Sustainable Development
World Resources Institute
International Emissions
Trading Association
World Economic Forum
Secretariat
of the Convention on Climate Change
COP 9
- Ninth Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC
Environmental Rights
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.
In this section, we provide several
informative web-sites on the linkages between human
rights and the environment.
The right to food, health and
housing and freedom of expression are several
of the aspects that the universal declaration
covers with the aim of guaranteeing just and peaceful
coexistence among humankind.
Reports
indicate that the first steps to link human rights
and the environment within the sphere of the United
Nations began in the early 1990s, when the Subcommission
on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of
Minorities named a special rapporteur on human rights
and the environment.
Later, the Stockholm
Declaration, drafted at the United Nations Conference
on the Human Environment in 1972, established the
foundations for linking human rights and protection
of the environment by declaring that human beings
have the “fundamental right to freedom, equality
and adequate conditions of life, in an environment
of quality that permits a life of dignity and well-being.”
The declaration also states that
human beings bear “a solemn responsibility to
protect and improve the environment for present and
future generations.”
In 1992, the Rio
de Janeiro Conference on the Environment and Development,
also known as the Earth Summit, proclaimed the public’s
right to know, to participate, and to work on improving
environmental conditions.
In January 2002, a conference
was held to assess the progress made since the Earth
Summit. The meeting’s web
site presents several documents that study the
link between human rights and the environment.
According to experts
while environmentalists have long been using human
rights as a platform to analyze the negative effects
of environmental degradation on health, human rights
groups are now beginning to comprehend that many of
the injustices committed against humanity are environmental
in essence.
Health problems like diarrhea
and respiratory ailments, the main causes of death
among the world’s poor according to the World
Health Organisation, are preventable if a safe
and healthy environment is provided, including, in
this case, clean water and adequate health infrastructure.
In November 2002, the United
Nations Economic, Social and Cultural Committee declared
access to clean water a human right, citing it as
an indispensable requisite for the fulfillment of
other rights.
In March 2003, the Third
World Water Forum was held in Kyoto, Japan, where
more than 24,000 participants discussed the actions
needed to overcome global obstacles standing in the
way of guaranteeing access to clean water.
The right to information has
given rise to an initiative known as the International
Right to Know campaign, aimed at requiring companies
based in the United States or traded on U.S. stock
exchanges and their foreign subsidiaries and major
contractors to disclose information on their overseas
operations.
The campaign is an attempt to
prevent abuses and ensure that companies respect the
environmental, labour and human rights of local communities
in the countries where they operate.
The web site of the The
People's Movement for Human Rights Education lists
international treaties and laws that link human rights
and the environment.
Declaración
Universal de los Derechos Humanos (Español)
Movimiento
de los Pueblos para la Educación en Derechos
Humanos (Español)
Comité
Económico, Social y Cultural de las Naciones
Unidas (Inglés)
Tercer
Foro Mundial del Agua (Inglés)
Integrating
Human Rights and the Environment Within the United
Nations (Inglés)
Declaración
de Estocolmo (Inglés)
Conferencia
de Río de Janeiro sobre Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo
(Inglés)
The American Association
for the Advancement of Science (Inglés)
Organización
Mundial de la Salud (Español)
Joint
UNEP-OHCHR Expert Seminar on Human Rights and the
Environment, Geneva 2002 (Inglés)
International
Right to Know (IRTK) (Inglés)
Environment
and Human Rights Project (Inglés)
The Information Society
The World Summit on the Information
Society (WSIS)
gets underway on Dec. 10 in Geneva. Eight thousand
people are expected to take part in deliberations
on how to bridge the digital divide and reduce the
imbalance in knowledge -- which are seen as the main
obstacles on the road to sustainable development in
the new economy.
Among the key objectives of the
Summit is the interconnection of all cities, educational
institutions, health centers and hospitals and local
and central government bodies before 2015.
Among the WSIS participants
will be more than 50 heads of state, and thousands
of representatives of governments, international organizations,
civil society groups, the private sector and the communications
media.
In the first
phase of the WSIS, in Geneva, the delegates are
to adopt a Declaration
of Principles and Plan of Action. The second phase,
in Tunis in 2005, will revolve around issues of development
and evaluation of progress made.
The 2000 report by the United
Nations Economic
and Social Council says that the revolution in
information and communications technologies (ICTs)
offers new opportunities for economic growth and social
development, but that it also poses new challenges
and risks.
The report points to applications
for development such as electronic commerce and access
to financial markets, the creation of jobs, increases
in agricultural and industrial production and even
"tele-medicine"
and "tele-education" -- providing services
to communities in remote areas.
But the text underscores that
the majority of the global population still lives
in poverty and has yet to benefit from the ICT revolution.
The report "Sustainability
at the speed of light" states that of the
eight billion micro-chips produced in 2000, just two
percent ended up in computers. Most people around
the globe live in continuous proximity to technology
-- in their cars, toys, cellular phones and even their
sports shoes, says the study.
Dubbed by some as "the second
industrial revolution", the rise of the ICTs
is expected to continue, and could ultimately reach
each person in the world.
Some observers fear that the
pace of expansion could mean that issues like the
environment and sustainable development will be ignored.
Among the proposals to anticipate
the spread of this new economy is the Digital
Opportunity Initiative, a public-private association
involving the Accenture company, the Markle Foundation
and the United Nations Development Program.
Launched at the G-8 Summit in
Okinawa in 2000, the initiative aims to identify the
roles of ICTs in promoting sustainable economic development
and social equalities.
Among the case studies are Costa
Rica and Brazil, as the Latin American examples of
successful government strategies to insert themselves
in the economy of the future.
If you are looking for
more information about the WSIS and links related
to ICTs, Inter Press Service is providing special
coverage on the unfolding of the information society.
World
Summit on the Information Society
2000
ECOSOC Report
Telemedic
Systems
Sustainability
at the speed of light: Opportunities and challenges
for tomorrow's societ
Digital Opportunity
Initiative
United
Nations Millennium Declaration
IPS
- Information Society - Special Coverage
Forum of Environment Ministers
Environment ministers from Latin
America and the Caribbean gathered Nov. 20-25 in Panama
to assess the region's sustainable development agenda.
The 14th Meeting of the Environment
Ministers of Latin America and the Caribbean debated
strategy for implementing the Latin American and Caribbean
initiative for Sustainable Development (ILAC).
Since 1982, the region's ministers
meet periodically, convened by the United Nations
Environment Program (UNEP).
However, it was not until 1995
that they began to incorporate issues from the international
environmental agenda into the debate, during the 9th
meeting, held in Havana, Cuba. With the groundwork
in place, the Forum of Environment Ministers was consolidated
at the 10th meeting, in 1996 in the Argentine capital.
Among the thematic lines the
forum is following are: institutional framework, policies
and instruments for environmental management, integrated
watershed management, biological diversity and protected
areas, and climate change and its repercussions for
the region.
The forum has an inter-agency
technical committee made up of the World
Bank, United Nations Development Program (UNDP),
United Nations Environment Program (UNEP),
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean
(ECLAC), and the
Inter-American Development Bank (IADB).
These institutions provide technical assistance and
support in identifying sources of financing.
According to UNEP, one of the
achievements of the ministerial forum was the presentation
of the Latin American and Caribbean Initiative for
Sustainable Development (ILAC)
at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD),
held in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2002. ILAC was
explicitly included in the Johannesburg Implementation
Plan.
The importance of ILAC lies in
the relevance of regional goals for the sustainable
use and development of biodiversity and the increase
in the use of renewable energy sources.
Equally valuable are plans to
develop technologies to ensure water quality and appropriate
water management, as well as the implementation of
plans and policies to reduce urban environmental vulnerability
to natural and manmade disasters.
On the other hand, the first
UNEP regional report on environmental perspectives,
the GEO
Report, indicates that while concern about the
natural surroundings has grown considerably, it remains
a secondary issue on the economic and development
agenda. The changes that have been implemented have
not substantially improved the environmental situation
or reduced degradation. The number of poor continues
to rise and the rich-poor gap keeps growing, and these
are inherently related to the need to protect the
environment and pursue sustainable development.
Forum
of Environment Ministers of Latin America and the
Caribbean
GEO
Report - Environment Outlook 2000
Inter-American Development
Bank
United Nations Development
Program
World
Summit on Sustainable Development
Tierramérica:
World Summit on Sustainable Development
Free Trade Area of the
Americas
In the middle of a tug-of-war
between the United States and Brazil, the co-chairs
of the negotiations, the 8th ministerial meeting of
the Free Trade
Area of the Americas (FTAA) will take place Nov.
20-21 in the U.S. city of Miami.
A broad range of civil society
groups, including environmentalists, is opposed to
the hemisphere-wide agreement.
The 34 countries of North and
South America and the Caribbean, with the exception
of Cuba, will be represented at the meeting, where
ministers will try to clear the way for the free flow
of goods and services in the region beginning in 2005.
The United States is reportedly
seeking a "broad" agreement that establishes
regional rules for intellectual property rights, investment
and government procurement, as well as a reduction
of tariffs throughout the hemisphere.
Meanwhile, Brazil, the largest
Latin American market, is mostly looking for a pact
that reduces the barriers standing in the way of market
access.
Brazil charges that the U.S.
farm subsidies cost the South American giant millions
of dollars in losses. But the U.S. government, like
Japan and the European Union, does not want to deal
with the issue outside of the World
Trade Organization.
The gradual elimination of trade
and investment barriers in the region is the aim of
the FTAA, an initiative that emerged from the 1994
Summit
of the Americas. The traditional policy of U.S.
aid through financial credits to the developing South
has been replaced by the idea of a Canada-to-Argentina
free trade zone.
The areas of negotiation within
the FTAA include: market access, investment, services,
public procurement, dispute settlement, agriculture,
intellectual property rights, subsidies, anti-dumping
rules, and competition policies.
The "Tripartite Committee",
comprising the Inter-American
Development Bank, the Organization
of American States and the U.N.
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean,
provides analytical, technical and financial support
for the FTAA process.
There are many who view the trade
agreement with skepticism. A study
by Canada's International
Development Research Center indicates that the
FTAA is considered a means for strengthening the U.S.
negotiating position against the European Union and
the countries of Southeast Asia.
Friends
of the Earth says that the implementation of the
FTAA would have negative consequences for the environment.
Accords on services, which would range from the oil
industry to tourism, would make it difficult for governments
to limit investment and to regulate environmental
protection.
Groups like the Coalition
of Immokalee Workers, based in the U.S. state
of Florida, say they fear a repeat of the experience
of NAFTA
(North American Free Trade Agreement), the 1994 treaty
between Canada, Mexico and the United States. After
the agreement entered into force, they say, the Mexican
market was flooded with U.S. corn, driving down prices
and forcing small farmers out of business.
But defenders of the treaty point
to the fact that Mexico's trade with its big neighbor
to the north currently runs at a surplus.
FTAA
- IPS Special Coverage
Free Trade Area
of the Americas
North American
Free Trade Agreement
Friends
of the Earth - FTAA environmental impact
Inter-American Development
Bank
Organization of American
States
Economic Commission
for Latin America and the Caribbean
Coalition
of Immokalee Workers
World Trade Organization
International Development
Research Center
Transnational Oil Companies
Thirty thousand Indians from
the Ecuadorian Amazon were able to put the U.S.-based
petroleum giant ChevronTexaco in court on charges
of environmental destruction.
The unprecedented trial began
Oct. 21 in Ecuador. Tierramérica invites you
to check out some Internet sites to learn more about
international oil companies.
An assessment report, contracted
by the plaintiffs, was presented in October. Global
Environmental Operations, entrusted with the study,
estimated that the costs for cleaning up the rivers
and underground water supplies affected by the ChevronTexaco
oil operations would reach 6 billion dollars.
The oil company denies that it
is responsible for the contamination in Ecuador and
affirms that it follows environmental safety standards.
On its web site, British Petroleum,
one of the world's biggest oil firms, states that
oil exploitation activities can have environmental
impacts, such as altering habitat, contamination,
introduction of non-native species, the non-sustainable
use of resources and contribution to climate change.
The presence of transnational
oil companies in Latin America dates to 1950, when
the consumption of fossil fuels in the region began
to accelerate rapidly.
From the 1950s to the 1970s,
the big oil companies, known as "The Seven Sisters"
(Exxon, Gulf, Texaco, Mobil, Standard Oil of California,
British Petroleum and Royal Dutch Shell), controlled
more than 98 percent of petroleum production in the
countries that later formed OPEC
(Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries).
Through their subsidiaries, these
companies held exclusive rights over initial exploration
and, following the entire process, over the final
marketing of petroleum products internationally.
OPEC today controls approximately
40 percent of the world's crude supplies. And through
recent acquisitions and mergers, such as British
Petroleum, Amoco and Arco, or that of Exxon-Mobil,
the biggest private western transnationals will go
from controlling 10 percent of the global oil market
in 1997 to approximately 25 percent next year.
A report
on world energy indicates that in 2002 Saudi Arabia
was the world's leading producer of petroleum, followed
by the Russian Federation and the United States.
In Latin America, Mexico was
the leading oil producer, with Venezuela coming in
a close second.
There are many Internet sites
that allow web surfers to follow the performance of
the oil industry. The web page of the U.S.
Department of Energy provides a daily review of
prices and production levels on a country-by-country
basis.
Global
Environmental Operations
ChevronTexaco
Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries
British Petroleum, Amoco
and Arco
Environmental
impacts of oil exploration
BP
Statistical Review of World Energy June 2003
U.S.
Department of Energy
Latin
Petroleum Analytics
Petroleum
reserves - by region
International Year of
Rice
In
an effort to attend to the problems of hunger and
malnutrition, among others, the United Nations General
Assembly on Oct. 31 declared 2004 the International
Year of Rice. Sixty percent of the world's 1.3
billion poor live in Asia, and rice is their principal
sustenance.
According to the U.N.
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), it is
urgent to boost rice supplies, given the growing demand
by a population with very limited income and whose
numbers are growing exponentially.
A study by the International
Rice Research Institute (IRRI) states that the
average person in countries like Bangladesh, Vietnam
and Burma consume 150 to 200 kilos of rice a year,
representing two-thirds or more of their daily calorie
intake and approximately 60 percent of their daily
protein consumption. "For the poorest, rice is
a luxury," says the study.
Among the notable characteristics
of this cereal is its low level of sodium and zero
cholesterol. Rice is also an important source of vitamins
(thiamine, riboflavin and niacin) and minerals (phosphorous,
iron and potassium). Rice also has limited amounts
of protein, containing eight amino acids essential
for the human body.
Worldwide, more than 585 million
metric tons of rice were produced
in 2001, 84 percent in Asian countries. The vast
majority of consumers are in Asia (91 percent). Latin
America represents 3.7 percent of consumption and
Africa 3.4 percent.
The prediction that growing demands
for rice will outstrip production has led organizations
like FAO to support the development and cultivation
of hybrid
rice, produced by cross-pollination of two species.
Hybrid varieties discovered in 1974 by Chinese scientists
currently produce 15 to 20 percent more than traditional
varieties.
Accompanying poverty is malnutrition.
According to figures from the non-governmental Bread
for the World Institute, there are 840 million
people suffering malnutrition worldwide. Of that total,
more than 95 percent live in developing countries
and more than 153 million are five years old or younger.
An estimated six million of these young children die
of hunger each year.
Land, water and labor resources
are on the decline in rice producing countries, there
are those who put forth other
arguments in the world hunger debate.
The World
Health Organization, for one, states that hunger
is the result of poor distribution and inequality,
not the lack of food."
International
Year of Rice
Rice
Facts - Essential Food for the Poor
United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization
Rice
FAQs
International Rice
Research Institute
Major
Rice Producers
Bread
for the World Institute
World
Health Organization
Hunger
Web
Hybrid
Rice for Food Security
Glass Feathers
Magnificently decorated, peacocks
carry in their plumage more than just an evolutionary
riddle. A new
study reveals that the brilliant colors of peacock
feathers are the result of a delicate and complex
structure similar to glass, and are not pigments,
as in other bird species. The new discoveries could
serve to improve telecommunications and create new
microchips for computers.
The blue royal or common peacock
is the most familiar. Its scientific name is Pavo
cristatus and it belongs to the Phasianidae
family. In the 17th and 18th centuries the English
physicist Isaac
Newton was already studying the origins of the
colors in this majestic bird's feathers.
The neck and chest of the male
peacock are a metallic blue-green. The long tail feathers
are green-hued and have dark circles towards the tips,
resembling eyes. During courtship, the male displays
his tail feathers, which measure around 1.2 meters,
forming a broad fan as he slowly struts around the
female, who generally feigns indifference.
The reproductive unit usually
consists of one adult male and one to three females.
Studies show that the most colorfully decorated males
are generally chosen over less showy males. In peacocks,
more ostentatious plumage is linked to a stronger
immune system.
Charles
Darwin, father of the theory of evolution, suggested
in 1871 that this preference on the part of females
in selecting their mate is another form of natural
selection.
The blue royal peacock is native
to India and Southeast Asia, where they can be found
in the wild, and in nature parks. These birds feed
on snails, spiders and insects, as well as grains
and plants.
In the times of King Salomon,
peacocks were presented in offerings alongside gold
and silver. Today, they have been domesticated and
can be found around the world, and are even kept as
pets.
Scientists admire these unique
birds, whose genetic
code has already been deciphered, and is sure
to hold even more secrets.
Peacock
plumage study
North
American Breeding Bird Survey
Isaac
Newton
Peacock
DNA studies
Charles
Darwin
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