Around the World | Overview

Getting our greenhouse in order

greenhouseIn December 2011 the world will again be watching South Africa, focused on an event that might be remembered far longer than the World Cup — the 17th meeting of the parties to the United Nation's climate convention. The hope of many is that the world may finally reach a just, legally binding and ambitious agreement on cutting carbon emissions — the agreement that Copenhagen failed to deliver. Putting aside whether that's likely, this means that an awful lot of attention is going to be focused on South Africa and raises the question — what example are we, as the hosts, going to be setting? Assuming we don't want to be shuffling about trying to avoid the question, there are many exciting possibilities.

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SAPSN People’s Summit Declaration for 2010

More than 350 representatives of grassroots movements, community-based organizations, and faith based organizations, women’s organizations, labor, students, youth, economic justice and human rights networks and other social movements met in Windhoek, Namibia on 15-16 August at the sixth SADC People’s Summit organised by the Southern Africa Peoples’ Solidarity Network (SAPSN), supported by the local host organization NANGOF Trust. Click here for the Full Declaration .
 

Brazil ups stakes for foreign investors in farmland

Sao Paulo, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Brazil's essential role as a provider of food for the world's expanding population is at risk if the government makes good on threats to curtail foreign investment in farmland. The late Nobel laureate and U.S. agronomist Norman Borlaug, who is widely recognized as the father of the Green Revolution, predicted Brazil would become the world's breadbasket in the 21st Century, as the United States was in the 20th. Read more of this analysis by Reese Ewing.

 

Minister announces mineral rights audit

There will be a six-month moratorium on new prospecting applications while a full audit of all mineral rights granted since 2004 is conducted, Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu announced on Tuesday. She also promised greater transparency in the way rights were allocated, and an immediate centralisation of the issuing process. Read more.
 

Food security expected to top agenda at hunger conference in New York

Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin and US secretary of state Hillary Clinton are to co-host an international hunger conference in New York next month to which up to 190 nations have been invited. The issue of food security in the wake of the devastating floods in Pakistan and fires in Russia is expected to top the agenda. Mr Martin said he and Ms Clinton had agreed to co-host the conference when Ms Clinton visited Dublin last year. Officials from both nations had been working on the plan since the Dublin meeting to ensure the conference formulates what he called “tangible proposals” to help tackle world hunger. Read more

 

More Thoughts

We need to paint a better world, articulate a better future that doesn't involve wilful consumption - Will Day