Environment
EnvironmentUK and Germany support small scale renewable energy project in Chile
The UK is supporting and helping finance the development of a 20 million-dollar small scale renewable energy project in Chile. The project will be financed from the joint UK-Germany NAMA (Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action) Facility and Chile's is only one in four of 47 projects worldwide that applied for this funding and reflects the quality of the Chilean application.
Economic crisis or 'greens': bicycles outsold cars in 26 of the EU 28 state members
Figures from industry bodies indicate that bicycles outsold cars in 26 of the European Union's 28 states in 2012. It is thought the trend reflects a slump in car sales brought on by the continent's economic crisis.
Argentina, Brazil and Chile elected to the Int. Maritime Organization council
Argentina, Chile and Brazil have been elected to be members of the International Maritime Organization Council for the 2014/15 biennium by the IMO assembly, which is meeting in London.
Fossils in south Chile reveal close interaction with once connected Antarctica
Three years of study in Patagonia have produced what researchers describe as most important paleontological findings in Chile in the last 10 years. The discovery of leaf and dinosaur fossils in South America has revealed the continent was connected to Antarctica 20 million years more recently than previously believed.
Magnitude 7.0 earthquake strikes in south Atlantic, 314 km SE from Falklands
The U.S. Geological Survey says a powerful magnitude-7.0 earthquake has struck in the South Atlantic, southwest of the Falkland Islands. It says the quake struck at 2:27 a.m. Monday (0627 GMT), about 314 kilometres southeast of the Falklands’ capital, Stanley, and 545 miles east of Ushuaia, Argentina. The depth was a shallow 10 kilometres.
Last minute compromise and flexible wording saves UN climate talks in Poland
UN climate talks in Poland have ended with delegates reaching a compromise on how to fight global warming. After 30 hours of deadlock, they approved a pathway to a new global climate treaty in Paris in 2015. The agreement was achieved after a series of last minute compromises often involving single words in draft texts.
Russia refuses to free Greenpeace vessel ignoring UN maritime tribunal order
The United Nations maritime tribunal has ordered Russia to free a Greenpeace vessel and 30 people detained after an oil drilling protest in the Arctic. The court in the German city of Hamburg said a bond of 3.6 million Euros should be posted.
Major environmental groups walk out of UN climate conference in Warsaw
Several major environmental groups, including Greenpeace and WWF, have walked out of UN climate talks in Warsaw, Poland in protest at what they see as a lack of progress towards an international deal to curb rising global greenhouse gas emissions.
Brazil agriculture in state of emergency following infestations of Helicoverpa caterpillar
Infestations of the Helicoverpa caterpillar in Brazil's grain belt prompted the agriculture ministry this week to declare a state of emergency in the leading soy state of Mato Grosso, highlighting the potential risk to large parts of the crop.
Deforestation in Brazilian Amazon increased by a third over the past year
Deforestation in the Amazon increased by nearly a third over the past year, according to Brazilian government figures released this week, confirming a feared reversal in what had been steady progress over the past decade against destruction of the world's largest rainforest.
