Report guardian (UK): Smart businesses will act now to reduce their environmental impact

For a full summary of news from Latin America and the Caribbean region, visit: http://www.pnuma.org/informacion/noticias/2013-06/24/index.html

Junio 23, 2013 - West Indies News Network

St. Kitts and Nevis (WINN): Disposal of refrigerants used in refrigerators and cooling appliances is a difficult challenge for the Caribbean, according to Donalyn Charles, Project Manager...

Call for policy on mercury bulbs

Junio 20, 2013 - Nation news

A SURINAMESE SCIENTIST has suggested governments should legislate the use and disposal of mercury-filled light bulbs to prevent poisoning.

Chile incrementará uso de energías renovables no convencionales

Junio 24, 2013 - Prensa Latina

24 de junio de 2013, 08:55Santiago de Chile, 24 jun (PL) El 55 por ciento de los proyectos de generación eléctrica en Chile son plantas solares y eólicas, reveló hoy un informe de la Corporación de Bienes de Capital.

Chile incrementará uso de energías renovables no convencionales 24 de junio de 2013, 08:55Santiago de Chile, 24 jun (PL) El 55 por ciento de...

...y composición arbórea. Por lo anterior, expuso que la deforestación ha ocasionado que los bosques tropicales se hayan reducido alrededor del...

...guatemaltecos de Punta de Manabique y Sarstún, en la costa del mar Caribe cerca de la frontera con Honduras, no escapan a los efectos del cambio...

Regional

Proyectos de energía renovable en Centroamérica
Junio 24, 2013 - La Prensa Gráfica
Los proyectos abarcan energía solar fotovoltaica para producir electricidad.

...otros. La AEA surgió en el marco de la Cumbre Mundial de Desarrollo Sostenible de Naciones Unidas celebrada en Johannesburgo en 2002, y se concretó...

...(1987); el Santuario de Ballenas El Vizcaíno (1993); las Islas y Areas Protegidas del Golfo de California (2005); y la Reserva de la Biosfera Mariposa...

País: México

Hacia una ley de protección de glaciares en Chile
Junio 23, 2013 - Portal Minero
Hace un par de semanas el reconocido doctor en Glaciología, Cedomir Marangunic, fue invitado por la Comisión del Medio Ambiente del Senado a exponer ante esa corporación. Se comienza a hablar sobre la necesidad de avanzar hacia una Ley de Protección de Glaciares en nuestro país, y este experto tiene

...tiene porque aunque podamos disminuir la acción del hombre sobre el cambio climático, igualmente se van a extinguir por los efectos naturales...

País: Chile

Desarrollo sostenible en foro venezolano de diversidad biológica
Junio 22, 2013 - Prensa Latina
22 de junio de 2013, 18:32Caracas, 22 jun (PL) La ciudad de Punto Fijo (estado de Falcón) acogerá las actividades del IV Congreso Venezolano de Diversidad Biológica, previsto del 23 al 28 de junio para debatir los retos del desarrollo, informaron hoy los organizadores.

Desarrollo sostenible en foro venezolano de diversidad biológica 22 de junio de 2013, 18:32Caracas, 22 jun (PL) La ciudad de Punto Fijo (estado...

País: Venezuela

CRECEN AMENAZAS PARA HUMEDALES
Junio 22, 2013 - Planeta Azul
México carece de capacidad para proteger los 138 humedales de importancia internacional que ha registrado ante la Convención Ramsar, advirtió Exequiel Ezcurra, director del Instituto para México y Estados Unidos de la Universidad de California y presidente del Consejo Nacional de Áreas Naturales Pro

...Marismas Nacionales sobre los manglares, o los proyectos en el Caribe que han intentando varias veces hacer hoteles y desarrollos sobre los manglares...

País: México

Deforestadas unas 1.764 hectáreas de bosques paraguayos en menos de un año
Junio 22, 2013 - Acento
La destrucción de los bosques que se encontraban en el distrito de Nueva Esperanza, situado a unos 200 kilómetros de la frontera con Brasil

...de la ONG. Nueva Esperanza "ha registrado esta suma crítica" de deforestación, pese a que en la Región Oriental rige una Ley que prohíbe las...

País: Paraguay

Surprise Species at Risk from Climate Change
Junio 24, 2013 - Science Daily

? Most species at greatest risk from climate change are not currently conservation priorities, according to an International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) study that has introduced a pioneering method to assess the vulnerability of species to climate change.

Surprise Species at Risk from Climate Change Most species at greatest risk from climate change are not currently conservation priorities, according...

El ornitorrinco amenazado por el cambio climático
Junio 24, 2013 - Diario Ecologia
El calentamiento global podría disminuir en un tercio las zonas habitadas por el ornitorrinco en Australia y este podría desaparecer. Este mamífero que pone huevos, con cola de castor, hocico en forma de pico de pato, venenoso, semiacuático, es un extraño animal emblemático y endémico de Australia

El ornitorrinco amenazado por el cambio climático El calentamiento global podría disminuir en un tercio las zonas habitadas por el ornitorrinco...

...Europea plantea bajar emisión de gases Las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero podrían provocar que a finales de este siglo las temperaturas...

...hídricos. Teixeira afirmó que el agua debe ser tema central para el desarrollo sostenible y pidió el compromiso de todos para proteger no sólo los recursos...

http://www.looktothestars.org/news/10373-pioneer-swimmer-prepares-to-circumnavigate-the-globe

Pioneer swimmer and ocean advocate Lewis Pugh was today unveiled as the United Nations Environment Programme's Patron for Oceans as he prepares to embark on an epic circumnavigation of the globe.

Mr. Pugh, a maritime lawyer from London, is the only person to have completed a long distance swim in every ocean of the world. In 2007 he swam across an open patch of sea at the North Pole to highlight the melting of the Arctic sea ice and in 2010 he swam across a newly formed glacial lake on Mt Everest to draw attention to the impact of climate change in the Himalayas.

Next year Mr. Pugh will embark on a three-year journey that will see him cross three oceans and 18 seas. Along the way, he will be promoting UNEP’s work and spearheading their campaign for the establishment of more Marine Protected Areas.

“I’m very excited to engage with UNEP as Patron for their work on oceans. Their work is crucial,” said Mr. Pugh. “One of the goals of the Convention on Biological Diversity is to see 10 per cent of our oceans set aside as properly managed Marine Protected Areas by 2020. We must achieve this target. Over 10 per cent of terrestrial land is protected by National Parks. If we can do it on land, we can surely do the same in the sea. I am looking forward to rolling up my sleeves and helping UNEP in every way possible.”

“I have been swimming for 27 years, and over that period I’ve seen our oceans change. I’ve seen enormous chunks of ice slide off Arctic glaciers. I’ve swum over bleached coral killed by rising sea temperatures, and over the bones of whales hunted to the edge of extinction. I’ve visited lakes high in the Himalayas where once there was only ice,” Mr. Pugh added. “I’ve seen drastic changes in my lifetime – changes that have come about because of our actions. In my lifetime I’d like to see us change, because we have it within our power to make a positive difference.”

Mr Pugh becomes only UNEP’s second Patron for a specific cause. He joins Kenyan Patrick Makau, the Marathon World Record Holder, who is Patron for Clean Air.

His long experience as an inspirational speaker will play a key role in bolstering support for a world in which oceans and seas are seen as vital natural resources that require far higher levels of sustainable management and conservation.

Millions have viewed his talks at TEDGlobal on conserving our oceans. His speech on leadership at the BIF Conference in Rhode Island was voted one of the “7 Most Inspiring Videos on the Web.” In 2010, the World Economic Forum named him a Young Global Leader.

“We are delighted to have Mr. Pugh join the UNEP family,” said UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner. “His passionate advocacy for oceans dovetails with UNEP’s Regional Seas Programme to address and reverse the accelerating degradation of the world’s oceans and coastal.”

“Humanity is having an inordinate environmental and economic impact on oceans and seas,” he added. “UNEP’s Green Economy report has identified transformational pathways that can reduce pollution, address overfishing and achieve a marine environment that can into the future continue to support lives and livelihoods in areas from tourism to fisheries and renewable energies. The messages Lewis will carry to audiences across the globe can inspire and catalyse action.”

The Regional Seas Programme, launched in 1974 in the wake of the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment held in Stockholm, is one of UNEP’s most significant achievements in the past 40 years.

The programme engages neighbouring countries in comprehensive and specific actions to sustainably manage their shared marine environment. Today, more than 143 countries participate in one or more of the 18 Regional Seas programmes around the world, six of which are administered by UNEP. Click here for more on the programme.

Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/24/us-pakistan-hunger-idUSBRE95N0AQ20130624

(Reuters) - Hunger in Pakistan is at emergency levels after years of conflict and floods, but funding has dwindled as new crises such as Syria grab donors' attention, the United Nations food aid chief said on Sunday.

Fighting in tribal areas bordering Afghanistan compounded problems caused by three consecutive years of floods that destroyed crops and forced millions of people to temporarily abandon their homes.

Although most have now returned, about half of Pakistan's population still does not have secure access to enough food, up from a little over a third a decade ago, the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) said. Fifteen percent of children are severely malnourished, and some 40 percent suffer from stunted growth.

"This is an emergency situation, both from the food security side as well as from the malnutrition side," WFP chief Ertharin Cousin told Reuters. "We need to raise the alarm."

At a center for treating acute malnutrition in Pakistan's Swat Valley, visited by Cousin on Sunday, a young mother called Zainab clutched her underweight 2-month-old baby and waited for a high-nutrition food ration.

"When the area was evacuated, we left our cattle and our homes, when we came back our cattle were dead and our homes were destroyed," said Zainab, who wore a black burqa.

There is growing concern that international donors will lose interest in the unstable border areas after the withdrawal next year of U.S.-led foreign forces from Afghanistan.

Already, Cousin said, the rising cost of the refugee crisis in Syria meant it was harder to attract funds to Pakistan.

WFP's Syria-related operations currently cost $26 million a week, and are forecast to rise as high as $42 million a week by the end of the year, putting a strain on Western donors.

North Korea is even worse hit by funding shortages, Cousin said, partly due to a drop in donations noticed at the beginning of this year, when Pyongyang threatened to launch a nuclear attack on the United States.

"We are significantly under-funded in DPRK going into this lean season, and we are very concerned about what that means," said Cousin, who called off a visit to North Korea during the tensions in March. She said she still planned to visit.
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UN News Centre: UN relief officials sound alarm over deepening food insecurity in Palestine

Link:http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=45240&Cr=palestin&Cr1=#.UchJXjvYh8E

21 June 2013 – The heads of two United Nations aid agencies today raised the alarm over the worsening food insecurity in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, where one in three Palestinian households now struggle to feed their families.

Preliminary results of a joint UN survey carried out by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the World Food Programme (WFP), the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) found that 1.6 million people – or 34 per cent of households – were food insecure in 2012.

This represents a “dramatic” rise from 27 per cent in 2011, stated a joint news release from WFP and UNRWA.

Contributing factors include high unemployment rates, stagnant economic growth, the financial problems of the Palestinian Authority, the continued Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the six-year blockade of Gaza.

WFP Executive Director Ertharin Cousin and UNRWA Commissioner-General Filippo Grandi today visited a Bedouin village between Jerusalem and Jericho where a food distribution carried out jointly by the two agencies was taking place.

“High food prices and low wages mean that 1.6 million Palestinians don’t know from where their next meal is coming,” said Ms. Cousin. “Yet food security is security. Food security is a vital component for sustained peace across the region.”

Ms. Cousin also welcomed a new agreement with UNRWA that will strengthen cooperation in Palestine and throughout the region and address the urgent needs of the population.

In nearby Jericho, she met shoppers using electronic vouchers from WFP to buy olive oil, salt and other groceries, most of which are produced locally in Palestine. In the past three years, WFP has injected more than $100 million into the Palestinian economy through local purchase and the redemption of electronic food vouchers. This investment supports local businesses and generates employment.

WFP reaches approximately 650,000 food-insecure, non-refugee households in Palestine. Meanwhile, UNRWA provides food assistance to more than one million food-insecure Palestine refugees across the Middle East.

During the visit to the village of Khan al Ahmar, the two officials signed a Memorandum of Understanding, in an agreement which will deepen and expand ties between their agencies.

“As well as cooperating more in the fields of food security and nutrition, we can share expertise in logistics, supply chain management and other initiatives, not just in Palestine, but regionally, particularly as we face up to the challenge of the Syria crisis,” said Mr. Grandi.

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United States

The New York Times: Kerry Prods India to Cut Greenhouse Gas Emissions

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/24/world/asia/kerry-prods-india-to-cut-greenhouse-gas-emissions.html?ref=earth&_r=0

“I do understand and fully sympathize with the notion that India’s paramount commitment to development and eradicating poverty is essential,” Mr. Kerry said in a speech at the start of a two-day visit. “But we have to recognize that a collective failure to meet our collective climate challenge would inhibit all countries’ dreams of growth and development.”

In an effort to prod the Indians to act, Mr. Kerry warned that climate change could cause India to endure excessive heat waves, prolonged droughts, intense flooding and shortages of food and water.

“The worst consequences of the climate crisis will confront people who are the least able to be able to cope with them,” he said.

Mr. Kerry has long been active on the issue of climate change. His speech was part of a broader push by the Obama administration that includes a presidential address, scheduled for Tuesday, on steps the White House plans to take domestically, including establishing the first limits on carbon emissions from new and existing power plants.

President Obama is also expected to pledge to lead a global effort to reduce climate-altering emissions and help both the poorest nations and newly industrializing countries like India adapt to the inevitable costs of a warming planet.

India is one of the fastest-growing sources of greenhouse gases in the world, and it has consistently rejected efforts by developed countries to slow down its energy consumption, fearing that it would retard its economic growth and hamper its drive to reduce poverty. India now ranks third in the world in production of carbon dioxide, the most prevalent heat-trapping gas, behind China and the United States.

When Mr. Obama and Xi Jinping, China’s president, met in California two weeks ago,they agreed to take steps to cut back on global production and use of hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, a component in coolants in refrigerators and air-conditioners.

Experts said at the time that such an effort would not be successful without the participation of India, where the use of refrigeration and air-conditioning is growing rapidly.

Mr. Kerry, on his first trip to India as secretary of state, was joined here by Ernest Moniz, the secretary of energy, and other senior American officials.

In his speech, Mr. Kerry sought to make the case that protecting the environment could be consistent with India’s economic development by improving energy efficiency and spurring investment in green technology. The United States, he said, would announce an effort to improve the energy efficiency of India’s air-conditioners.

But Mr. Kerry appeared to stop short of committing India to some sort of negotiated international regime to phase out HFCs, though he alluded to the possibility.

“We can also work together to globally phase down hydrofluorocarbons,” he said, “and eliminate the equivalent of roughly two years’ worth of current global emissions by the year 2050.”

Mr. Kerry also pleaded with India to commit to working constructively on a global treaty to be negotiated under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. India has shown some reluctance to fully engage in the negotiations, out of fear that a global regime would impose the greatest cost on countries least able to afford them. The 190-plus signatories to the United Nations climate convention have agreed to complete a new treaty with binding legal force by the end of 2015.

Mr. Kerry tried to reassure India that any such pact would take its needs into account. “I am convinced that we can move toward a global agreement that puts us on track to avert the most dangerous climate change, that is sensitive to and respectful of the diversity of national circumstances and capabilities, and that is fair, pragmatic and can actually evolve with changing circumstances,” he said.

The visit comes at a time of some tension on trade in relations between the United States and India.

In a letter to Mr. Kerry this month, the leading Democrat and Republican on the Senate Finance Committee asserted that the Indian government and courts had violated intellectual property rights by allowing India’s pharmaceutical industry to make a generic copy of a patented drug.

The letter, signed by the committee’s chairman, Max Baucus of Montana, a Democrat, and Orrin G. Hatch of Utah, a Republican, also asserted that India was establishing barriers to American investment. Mr. Kerry urged the completion of an investment treaty.