30) Logging Company is Accused of 'misleading public' with Carbon Conservation Project

A report released by Indonesian activist group Greenomics has accused Asia pulp and Paper (APP) of making false claims of 'going green'. According to the report, logging giant APP were obliged to set aside 12,640 ha of Sumatran rainforest in accordance with Indonesian law following the assessment of the area by subsidiary company PT. The campaign group claims APP is 'deliberately misleading the public by claiming to be voluntarily setting the area aside in 'an attempt to dupe the public into believing that the company is going green'. In a press release APP heralded the Kampar Carbon Reserve project, under which the area has been set aside as a carbon reserve, as the 'world's first pulpwood plantation concession to be carbon reserve REDD+initiative'. However, Greenomics have questioned the reliability of the MOF's assessment claiming it was hurriedly carried out on a quick visit from Jakarta. Later, a more reliable assessment by PRP found the area was unsuitable and fulfilled requirements for lehal protection. 'APP must convey their deep apology to the public and withdraw their misleading press release because that press release has manipulated the legal facts'. Greenomics further says that APP is doing the same again, 'attempting to establish its green credentials' in the face of mounting international criticism of the Sinar Mas Group's notorious forestry practices which continue to destroy Indonesia's forests at an alarming rate. I think its great that this activist group has pointed out the lies and deceiving that APP has been doing with the public so hopefuly after an apology they can revindicate themselves by doing good to the environment and the Indonesian forests.

Link to site: http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_round_up/687853/logging_company_accused_of_misleading_public_with_carbon_conservation_project.html

29) Environmental Footprint of Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology- which enables the manipulation of matter at an atomic of molecular level, has been heralded as an innovative approach to improving energy and resource efficiency. However, in a recently released report, Friends of the Earth scrutinized the nanotechnology industry's claims that it can deliver energy efficient, inexpensive and environmentally sound solutions to problems such as climate change, resource depletion and pollution. The environmental group criticized the energy-intensive manufacture of nanomaterials such as carbon nanofibers which require up to 360 times more energy than smelting aluminum on an equal mass basis-saying that this will come with a higher overall energy cost where the goal is supposedly increased energy efficiency. People working in the nanotechnology industry have criticized this report saying that the new technology will bring environmental benefits as it develops. 'Nanotechnology is still an emerging area of science and innovation and as such one cannot expect it to be panacea to all ills including global warming and pollution. But it shows promise' said Professor Richard Owen, program coordinator for the UK Environmental Nanoscience Initiative. I agree with this last comment, it is a fairly new technology and granted not everything that comes out of new technology will be good, there will be surely some effect on the environment but I do think the benefits are bigger than the problems it can cause. The world is already incredibly reliable on oil, gas, and dangerous chemicals so this new nanotechnology won't really do much to help us lower our use of the three listed above, but like I said, it can prove to be helpful in the long run.

Link to site: http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_round_up/687110/industry_and_activists_clash_over_environmental_footprint_of_nanotechnology.html

28) Shell-sponsored Climate Change Exhibition causes anger

Oil companies should be banned from partnering with public institutions like Tate Modern and the Science Museum, say environmental campaigners. Shell's 1 million pound funding for a new exhibition on climate change at the Science Museum was 'ludicrious' given the company's role as one of the world's biggest carmon emitters. Shell used sponsorship of cultural institutions like the Science Museum to link its brand to good and progressive organizations and to help lobby government officials and business leaders. The company's sponsorship of 'The Natural History Museum's Wildlife Photographer of the Year' exhibition ended after strong opposition from the direct action group Rising Tide and Art not Oil. A spokesperson said Shell was one of a number of sponsors of the exhibition, which cost 4.5 million pounds and that the Museum had 'full editorial control over the exhibition content'.While I agree that Shell was probably just trying to get publicity and be seen in a better light, I also think it is good that this company was sponsoring an exhibition like that because, although it is one of the biggest carbon emitters, everyone depends on oil particularly Shell and there is nothing we can do about that. Since we can't stop carbon emissions, might as well use some money to sponsor a few environmentally friendly exhibitions. I think.

Link to site: http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_round_up/689703/anger_at_opening_of_shellsponsored_climate_change_exhibition.html

27) Google Earth Technology Allows Tracking of Environmental Changes

Google has unveiled an online technology that allows scientists and researchers to track and measure changes to the environment using 25 years worth of satellite data. It utilizes "trillions" of scientific measurements" collected by NASA's LANDSAT satellite. Google is already working on applications for tracking deforestation and mapping land use trends, including the creation of the most comprehensive scale map of Mexico's forest and water resources. Google will offer 20 million CPU hours free to developing nations and scientific organizations to utilize the platform, which could emerge as a critical tool in the enforcement of such land management initiatives as the UN's REDD program in which wealthier nations pay developing nations to preserve rain forests. Technology is not always a good thing as it tends to create more problems environmentally when trying to dispose of artifacts such as computers, cellphones, etc, but this new technology that google has developed seems to be a great step towards keeping track of environmental changes and seeing what areas are most affected, if our efforts to help the environment are creating a positive effect and the time it takes to do so.

Link to site:http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/42080

26) Israeli Electric Cars on Fast Track

Israel Corporation is now the head of one of the country's largest holding companies in Israel, contrary to reservations being made about the Better Place electric car company. CEO Nir Gilad said he expects these electric cars to be "commercially on the roads" by the year 2012. He also believes this cars are the trend for the future; and that every leading car maker has announced plans to offer their versions of electric cars. A consumer giant like China is agreeing to work with Better Place. Besides Better Place, other car automakers include Ford and the American auto giant General Motors. The year 2011 will be one involving extensive testing of the Better Place cards in Israel and other countries like Denmark. According to Gilad, Better Place has picked up the pace of its research and development causing company to lose some $32 million for the third quarter of 2010. The Israel Corporation is one of the major investors in Better Place. A market for electric cars in Israel will open new doors to bigger technology there and in other countries such as China. I think this is a positive step towards bettering the automobile industry in the world.

Link to site: http://www.greenprophet.com/2010/11/israel-electric-cars-2/

25) Global Temp Up 7.2F degrees by 2060s

World temperatures could soar by 4 degrees Celsius by the 2060s in the worst care of global climate change and would require an annual investment of $270 billion just to contain rising sea levels. Such a rapid rise is double the 2 degrees set by 140 governments at a U.N. climate summit in Copenhagen last year and would disrupt food and water supplies in many parts of the globe. "Across many sectors, coastal cities, farming, water stress, ecosystems or migration, the impacts will be greater" than at 2 degrees. Other scenarios showed the threshold breached later in the century or not at all by 2100, raising risks of abrupt changes such as a loss of Arctic sea ice in summer, a thaw in permafrost or a drying out of the Amazon rainforest. This is of course terrible news if they are predicting the water temperatures to be higher than they had previously predicted and it must mean we are doing a lot of damage to our environment. Hopefully, people realize this and start making some changes in the way they live their lives.

Link to site: http://www.enn.com/climate/article/42051

24) "Stop Robbing Land From the Poorest"

Indigenous peoples and smallholders are losing their livelihoods as 30 million hectares of land is being lost every year to soil degradation, urbanization and conversion to real estate development and industrial use, according to the UN. Report author and UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food Olivier de Schutter says the consequences for millions of smallholder farmers, fishermen and indigenous people, who depended on the land for their subsistence and livelihoods, was in many cases dramatic. His report argues that the key to safeguarding their rights was land tenure laws. He suggested the reinforcement of tenancy laws could significantly protect the rights of land users, as well as redressing the balance in the unequal distribution of land in rural areas. Speaking at the recent Committee on Food Security in Rome, Schutter said: "You won't solve world hunger by robbing the poorest from the land on which they depend: you will solve it by strengthening security of tenure and by ensuring a more equitable access to land and natural resources". Schutter has previously argued that decision-makers were ignoring the contribution that low-input agro-ecological farming methods employed by many smallholders could make to safeguarding food production in the long-term.

Link to site: http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_round_up/653063/stop_robbing_land_from_the_poorest_urges_un_food_expert.html