South Korea’s biggest is 1.3 million hectares in Madagascar. China’s is 1.24 million in the Philippines. With rich, resource-poor nations increasingly outsourcing their food production to less developed nations, a new website aims to expose the extent of the agricultural land-grab epidemic. It’s a simple if iniquitous equation: rich countries with limited land resources snap …
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Month:June 2009
Greenwash undermines green living – the 7 sins of greenwash.
Natural. Non-toxic. Biodegradable. It’s possible for manufacturers to cover a multitude of environmental sins with a carefully – if inaccurately – chosen word. And most of them do, as a US House of Representatives committee on greenwash recently found. 98% of the products claiming to be environmentally friendly are guilty of greenwash. That in itself …
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Home by Yann Arthus-Bertrand
Famous for his ‘earth from above footage’, photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand’s new film, Home, is a feast for the eyes with a strong ecological message. It’s not the usual eco-movie. It’s filmed from above, which makes it spectacular. It gradually unfolds a story, starting with the birth of Earth, and then moves onto how it developed, …
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Organic ‘mainstream agriculture in waiting’
We’ve known for a long time that organic agriculture is what the planet needs. A new report shows how much it has to offer and that it must become the mainstream. The new independent report by the University of Reading shows that organic farming has “much to offer” and “is, perhaps, mainstream agriculture in waiting.” …
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Sharks becoming extinct because of overfishing.
The latest report from International Union for Conservation of Nature. This is the first time that IUCN Red List criteria, considered the world’s most comprehensive inventory of the conservation status of plants and animals, have been used to classify open ocean, or pelagic, sharks and rays. The Red list gives the status of 64 types …
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Global Development Finance Report 2009, World Bank
The World Bank’s annual Global Development Finance combines a diagnosis of recent trends and prospects for capital flows to developing countries with an analysis of important policy issues. Amidst global economic recession and financial-market fragility, net private capital inflows to developing countries fell to $707 billion in 2008, a sharp drop from a peak of …
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BT Notes – solstice, fathers’ day, community games.
Solstice, father’s day and community games. Whew! The great thing about the summer solstice (4.20am this morning) is that it marks the longest day of the year. Sunrise is 4.57 and sunset 21.57, with an extra 60 to 90 minutes of light at dawn and dusk as light spills over the horizon, daylight lasts for …
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US over-regulation to outlaw organic growing?
There are concerns circulating on the internet that organic farming could be ‘banned’ by a new Bill about to be presented to the US House and Senate. The Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 (bill HR 875) proposes measures to enforce the use of pesticides and fertilisers to ensure ‘food safety’. The Bill’s jurisdiction might …
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Sustainable Energy – Without The Hot Air
Read the book, or chapters, or synopsis, here. This remarkable book sets out, with enormous clarity and objectivity, the various alternative low-carbon pathways that are open to us. Sir David King FRS Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government, 2000-08 For anyone with influence on energy policy, whether in government, business or a campaign group, …
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God, man and growth
Some research was carried out in 2003 to explore the connection between religion, religiousness and economic growth. The story is told in this article by The Economist: God, man and growth. The conclusion supports the thesis that values are key to social and economic success, not religion itself. It is the belief in being part …
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