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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, November 23rd 2024 - 07:53 UTC

Environment

  • Wednesday, May 17th 2023 - 10:59 UTC

    Brazil: Fines for environmental infractions up almost 90% under Lula

    Logging in the Brazilian Amazon reached its highest levels in the last fifteen years

    Since President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva returned to office on Jan. 1, Brazil's Institute of the Environment (Ibama) increased by almost 90% the fines imposed on trespassers of environmental rules, when compared to the last year of the Jair Bolsonaro administration, it was reported.

  • Tuesday, May 16th 2023 - 02:00 UTC

    Australia approves new coal mine: 2,5 million tons in five years

    Scientists have repeatedly warned that any new fossil fuel projects are not compatible with global climate goals.

    Despite elected on a climate action platform the Australian government has approved a new coal mine for the first time since it was elected, reports the BBC from Canberra. The government was bound by national environment laws when considering Central Queensland's Isaac River coal mine, a spokeswoman said.

  • Monday, May 15th 2023 - 10:50 UTC

    Shortage of drinking water in Montevideo getting critical

    “We have a crisis and we have to recognize it, we must not be in denial,” Cosse said

    Montevideo Mayor Carolina Cosse will ask the National Emergency System (Sinae) to step in as the shortage of drinking water in the Uruguayan capital gets more and more serious. The city and the Metropolitan area is feared to run out of drinking water in between 20 to 30 days due to lack of rainfall.

  • Saturday, May 13th 2023 - 10:50 UTC

    UN envoy warns of crisis caused by “Chilean Chernobyl”

    “It is completely unacceptable that children and young people in some communities are growing up without a reliable supply of water,” Boyd said

    David Boyd, the United Nations (UN) envoy for human rights and the environment, warned that Chile is facing a “frightening and interconnected environmental crisis” that is violating the rights of millions of people at the industrial complex known as the “Chilean Chernobyl.”

  • Friday, May 12th 2023 - 11:08 UTC

    Re-wilding agricultural land to avoid methane and exploding cows

    Cows belch methane as they digest their fodder and, above a concentration of five per cent, methane becomes explosive.

    By Gwynne Dyer – 'At least half the current agricultural land on the planet, more likely two-thirds of it, has to be re-wilded in order to restore the world’s principal carbon sink and to preserve the biodiversity on which the entire ecosystem depends.

  • Saturday, May 6th 2023 - 11:16 UTC

    Ecuador bonds in debt for nature swap includes promise to upgrade Galapagos Islands conservation

    With Ecuador in severe financial turmoil, the bonds were trading well below face value as investors considered non-repayment to be likely

    In a debt for nature swap, Credit Suisse has announced buying Ecuadorian bonds worth US$1.6 billion. With Ecuador in severe financial turmoil, the bonds were trading well below face value as investors considered non-repayment to be likely. Effectively, Ecuador has now bought its own debt back at a knock-down price via a fresh loan from Credit Suisse.

  • Saturday, May 6th 2023 - 11:00 UTC

    Latin America needs to take climate change seriously, says Moody's

    Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina are the leading CO2 emitters in the region, accounting for about 70 % of the GDP generated in the region

    According to a Moody's Analytics report published this week, Latin America will lose productivity to climate change if it does not take swift action. The document titled “Latin America under the risk of climate change” explained that governments, companies, and financial institutions should adopt preventive measures to reduce carbon emissions, in order to mitigate eventual damages caused by climate change.

  • Thursday, May 4th 2023 - 10:15 UTC

    Latin America lost over 39 million hectares of forests

    Some species have not been previously intervened by humans, making their loss irreplaceable

    Agriculture has taken its toll on Latin American forests, particularly in South America's two largest countries. Argentina reached 444,535 hectares deforested to prioritize crops and cattle feeding.

  • Wednesday, May 3rd 2023 - 11:13 UTC

    Deforestation controversy: despite EU landmark legislation, Brazil will keep to its own legal system

    Former agriculture minister Roberto Rodriguez said the law amounted to a non-tariff trade barrier, calling it “exaggerated protectionism.”

    Brazil’s government said it could not interfere with a landmark EU law banning imports of commodities linked to deforestation but will keep farming according to its own laws. The law approved by the European Parliament on April 19 bans imports of coffee, beef, soy, palm oil, cocoa, rubber, wood, charcoal and derived products including leather, chocolate and furniture if they are linked to forest destruction.

  • Wednesday, May 3rd 2023 - 10:58 UTC

    Shortage of rain water threatens Panama Canal crossings forcing ships to reduce their draft and cargoes

    Alhajuela and Gatún are the two artificial lakes in the Caribbean province of Colón that supply water to the canal, and both have been affected by the drought

    Insufficient rainfall has once again forced the Panama Canal to reduce the draft of ships crossing through the inter-oceanic route – another episode of the water supply crisis that threatens the future of the maritime course that handles 6% of global maritime trade