What the hell, government leaders?

Did you catch that BBC article last week reporting that the UK government believes it is  highly unlikely that a climate treaty will be agreed on in Copenhagen next month? Oh, and a full treaty is about a year away.

You’re kidding, right?

Just two years ago, governments across the globe promised to get their respective asses in gear at the summit in Copenhagen to take place in December 2009. Did they lose their calendars? Poor governments. It’s not like they have anyone to get their shit organized.

Let me rephrase, actually: it is the governments of more developed countries that are failing everyone else, while developing countries rightfully complain that they’re getting screwed.

“When we left (UN talks in) Bali two years ago, we all expected that would be agreeing on a legally binding outcome to respond to the urgency… that we were on the verge of catastrophic climate change, so we’re very disappointed,” said Selwin Hart from Barbados, speaking for the group of small island developing states.

“If we don’t take urgent and ambitious action, the reality is that some small island developing states will not be around within a couple of decades – certainly not by the end of the century.”

Activists hold placards as they sit near a hoarding with a world map during a press conference to mark the hundred days countdown to the Copenhagen summit, in New Delhi in August. Photo by beta.thehindu.com

But EU delegates say the treaty is so complex that getting through the legal red tape will not be possible this year. Conversely, South Africa’s Alf Wills, who co-ordinates the G77/China bloc of developing countries on extending the Kyoto Protocol, thinks it’s a political issue, as officials aren’t agreeing on what moves to make. He said developing countries have already put their proposals forward.

Artur Runge-Metzger, chief negotiator for the European Commission, said a period of 3-6 months might yield results. And US delegates said their legislation will not be ready in the next 6 months.

Environmental groups rightly opine that developed countries haven’t gotten as far as other nations because, well, they chose not to.

“So much can blamed on the Big Carbon special interests driving Washington. If Europe doesn’t stand up to America to save this deal, there could be grave implications for millions across the world,” said Joss Garman of Greenpeace.

Come on, Obama, don’t let the world down.

By the way, here’s a great chart that lays out where countries stand on climate change issues.

The rise in sea levels is going to ruin this kangaroo's party - photo by kepakurl.com.au

If you’ve been wanting to check out Western Australia, you better get to it quick. Sea levels have increased by 8.6mm a year – at twice the world average rate – off the coast of Perth, said Australia’s National Tidal Centre. The global average is just over 3mm.

Scientists blame climate change.

Really? I am so shocked.

Anyway, Perth and the Kimberley region are experiencing the fastest rises in sea level.

It’s important to note that 80% of Australians live on the coast, and therefore low-lying communities may have to be evacuated in coming years due to flooding and erosion. Not to mention heavy rains, storm surges, and even tropical storms. Fun.

(I lived in Florida for 5 years, and I can tell you that many people take the yearly, 6-month-long hurricane season as an opportunity to host hurricane parties  when disaster strikes. Let’s just say that lots of alcohol is involved; I suppose it mitigates the panic.)

Officials are, of course, ruing the possibilities.

So why Western Australia?

Scientists say that tides are affected by the gravitational pull. Some climate scientists believe Australia is especially vulnerable to shifting climates and will experience increasing floods, droughts and storms. Sounds like Africa’s plight (more on that soon).

Let’s see what happens in Copenhagen next month. I mean, do we really want to live in a sea of storms all year long? As an ex-Florida resident, let me tell you, it’s no fun – hurricane parties notwithstanding.

One of the 7 cabins at San Miguel Del Bala's eco lodge

The indigenous Tacanas of the Amazon are betting on ecotourism to protect their territory, increase their income, and improve their quality of life.

This population of 235 inhabitants has built an eco lodge in the village of San Miguel del Bala on the banks of the Beni River in northwestern Bolivia with the help of NGOs.

The eco lodge’s 7 cabins are scattered throughout the rainforest and were constructed with local dry palm leaves and wood. It recycles waste and uses a wastewater treatment system.

San Miguel del Bala

To get an idea of the remoteness of San Miguel del Bala, let’s just say you must take a 40-minute boat ride to get there, all the way from the town of Rurrenbaque.

The village consists of 44 families mainly made up of fishers and farmers. It is not surprising, then, that they lack electricity and health care, although they do have potable water and a school for the local children, according to the community leader, Biter Supa.

Guests can take excursions with native guides to learn of ancient hunting methods and medicinal plants and visit natural pools, waterfalls, and a salitral cave. They can even visit some Tacana families’ homes, which are built of palm leaves and bamboo.

Madidi National Park, San Miguel del Bala

The Madidi National Park – 4.5 million acres of land of rich biodiversity – hosts 1,000 species of fauna and 6,000 of flora. You might want to get a malaria shot, by the way.

Peru’s government has designated sections of the park, areas called Tierras Comunitarias de Origen (TCOs), reservations for the indigenous populations. This is fantastic; we’ve already had an obscene excess of what one of my college professors called the “white men with guns” phenomenon, where, well, white men with guns come and kill/enslave/brutalize indigenous communities to rape the land (and the people).

This way the native population will be able to benefit from the nascent ecotourism industry. In fact, the community members manage their collectively owned territory and promote the participation and representation of members of all ages and sexes.

Hell yeah.

Also, if you’re staying for at least 10 days, you can join their Volunteer Program and stay at the eco lodge for a special rate by working just 4 hours daily. Super sweet.

I was contacted because Online Universities.com has chosen Save Eco Destinations as one of five blogs on Travel for “green students.”

It’s pretty sweet.

Check it out here.

Yay!

Brazil's cattle sector takes up 80% of all deforested areas of the Amazon and is Brazil’s main source of carbon emissions. Photo by Greenpeace.

Greenpeace can be a pain in the ass, but more often than not, I think they rule.

Here is one example: In June, the organization released a report called “Slaughtering the Amazon,” which explains why the Brazilian cattle industry is the main cause of deforestation on the planet, with one acre lost every 8 seconds on average.

Through the release of this information, more and more people became educated as to the link between deforestation and cattle ranching, which then bred widespread activism to boycott cattle products from the region.

Activists demanded that shoe companies Adidas, Nike, Timberland, Clarks, and Geox stop buying leather from the Amazon. And it worked!

Even more amazing,

Each of the companies, JBS-Friboi, Bertin, Minerva and Marfrig, declared the adoption of environmental and social standards to ensure their products are free from cattle raised in newly deforested areas of the rainforest. The Brazilian Association of Supermarkets (ABRAS), which includes Walmart and Carrefour, attended the event and supports the call for zero deforestation.

JBS-Friboi, Bertin, Minerva and Marfrig, by the way, are four of the world’s largest beef and leather companies and monopolize the world export market and supply. They have vowed to  ban the purchase of cattle from newly deforested land in the Amazon. This is huge.

Governor Blairo Maggi of the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, which is responsible for the leading rate of forest destruction in the Amazon and the country’s biggest cattle herd, said Mato Grosso would stand behind efforts to protect the rainforest and “provide high-resolution satellite images for monitoring.”

Well, I’m impressed.

More kick-ass news:

At the United Nations General Assembly in September, President Lula announced a target of 80% reduction in deforestation by 2020 for Brazil.

Hell yes. Go Brazil!

If only more nations would take the lead! I suppose they will when activists annoy them enough…

What it is

from 350.org

The coalition 350.org has created a day for climate action.

Earth citizens in 181 countries have organized over 5,200 climate action events around the globe to celebrate climate change awareness, concern, action, and leadership.

If you didn’t hear about this from other sources or through SED on Twitter this past week, watch this short animation explaining the concept behind 350:

The Point

The coalition 350.org created the International Day of Climate Action to unite people everywhere toward a common goal of reducing the carbon dioxide in our atmosphere to 350 parts per million – what scientists say is the safest upper limit for carbon dioxide for humanity.

We’re already at 387 ppm.

The point is to get our world leaders to haul ass so we can get back down to at least 350 ppm ASAP.

Do it

Go add your name to 350.org’s International Day of Climate Action – and, of course, get up and do something

Then, add photos of what you did to the website by emailing them to photos@350.org and upload a video to their website.

You can also donate to the cause and volunteer.

Remember!

The Copenhagen, Denmark talks are coming up in December! Delegates, NGOs, and businesses from every nation will be there to discuss and finalize a new global climate change agreement. This two-week long conference will determine what the world’s next steps will be to fight climate change.

It is crucial that we make ourselves heard.

So be loud !

It’s fun.

Let’s boycott!

As we saw in part three of the Peruvian Amazon Interoceanic Highway posts, which also discusses illegal gold mining, Peru’s rainforests are being cut down and the environment and human and nonhuman animals poisoned due to unregulated gold mining.

(Note: Let’s keep in mind that lawful gold mining is destructive as well.)

In the aforementioned post, Peru’s Environment Minister Antonio Brack said that the national government is looking to ban illegal fold mining.

But with such an extensive reach, how can illegal mining be stopped (never mind legal mining)?

We’d need some United States-style, Big Brother-type technology here.

Environmental activist Enrique Ortiz says that a Peruvian mining town near Huaypetue has quadrupled in size in the past six months alone.

“It’s just a cancer that is spreading all around, and with the prices going up of gold, predictions are not so good,” he says.

At the very least, the government would need to send a ton of guards to the Peruvian border with Bolivia and Brazil to span and monitor the entire area.

*Ahem* These guards should ideally not greet bribing attempts with a thumbs up *Ahem*

Brack didn’t even offer information on how the Peruvian government plans to finance the project. I’m not surprised – it’s not as though Peru is known for its wealth, and the region in question is about as large as Belgium (small on a map, yes, but try walking it!).

Gold mining in the Peruvian border with Bolivia and Brazil produced 10% of Peru’s 180 tons of gold output worth USD 5.6 billion in exports in 2008. The country is the fifth-biggest gold producer worldwide, and gold exports constitute its second largest source of revenue.

The Bloomberg article reporters can actually be reached at their respective email addresses here if you have any questions or comments for them.

Hey, how about we do a little bit by boycotting gold? Let’s find out which corporations mining and selling unrenewable natural resources to us – not Peruvians living in extreme poverty and who are desperate for better opportunities – and declare war by boycotting and talking trash about them.

Spreading the word helps, looking for petitions to sign, letters to write, and so on. Whatever you can do!

Here are some disgusting corporations and companies exploiting poor nations’ natural resources and polluting them with cyanide and other poisons:

• Canada-based Manhattan Minerals Corporation, which has also mined gold in Mexico
• Newmont stretches its gold mining operations across five continents and touts itself as the largest gold producer in the world. Good job, guys! Keep on being greedy asshats
• The International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group
• Venezuelan mining company Buenaventura
• Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières
• Boycott Green Karat says it’s an “eco” company because its rings are made of recycled gold. Well, honey, don’t you think that still encourages gold mining? “Ecologically responsible” my ass.
• Chinalco mines copper in Peru and ships it back to China

Gold mining pollution. Yummy. - Getty Images

Rio Huaypetue gold mine - and rampant deforestation - in southeastern Peru - photo by Mangobay.com

Illegal gold mining is a multi-pronged mess, spawning social, environmental, and economic unrest. As mentioned in part two of the Peruvian Amazon Interoceanic Highway posts, Peru sees its fair share of this problem.

The easier it gets to travel to the lowlands, the easier it gets for highlanders to venture down to take on whatever work they can – even if they must destroy their own land in the process – to seek a better living.

Natl Govt looks to ban illegal mining

Environment Minister Antonio Brack said last month that the government will seek to ban unregulated mining for gold in the country’s southeastern rainforest, reports Bloomberg.

Mining operations require cutting down stretches of rainforest. Further, unregulated gold mining pollutes 5 million hectares (12 million acres) of the Amazon River basin, he said, in the Madre de Dios (Mother of God) region.

The Ministry is thus looking to reach an agreement with national and regional governments to stop the environmental destruction.

“Informal mining, which doesn’t meet minimal environmental standards, is the country’s biggest social and ecological problem,” Brack said.

“These operations, which are spreading across the Andes and the Amazon, have an enormous impact on biodiversity and native communities.”

Unregulated gold miners live in extreme poverty

Mercury and the environment

Mercury is used to separate gold ore from rock in the refining process.

Alluvial mining, or dredging for gold along river banks, is the norm in these lowlands. It is extensively harmful to the environment and is deadly for human and nonhuman animals alike.

About 32 tons of mercury are dumped into the rainforest’s rivers annually by miners. The pollution has a reach of 500 km. (300 mi.) – all the way into Brazil.

Read about the terrible effects of these gold mining poisons on local communities.

Deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon - photo by Rhett A. Butler

While the new highway being constructed between Brazil and Peru’s Pacific coast is bringing prosperity and job opportunities to impoverished locals, many are emphasizing the detrimental social, environmental, and economic effects.

Previously tranquil isolated towns like Quincemil in Peru are now seeing burgeoning activity – along with violence and other consequences.

Prostitution and violence

“The price of everything has gone up. It’s because there are lots of new men living nearby and working on the road. I am very worried. With all these unknown people that have arrived, there has been violence, men who are drunk, prostitution,” said Rocio Ramirez, the owner of a small store in the town of Quincemil.

“… I don’t like what is happening here. We’ve seen a lot of young girls who’ve gotten pregnant, and we hear that there are a lot of sexual diseases being passed around,” she says.

Given that the town is isolated and the people impoverished, there is no way that health clinics (if any exist) would provide locals with reproductive or sexual education. Hence, the prostitutes are becoming pregnant and infected with STIs. This does not deserve to be taken lightly.

Of course, many of the women who turn to that way of life do it out of desperation and a lack of better options. In this case, their situation points to these women’s inability to access condoms or other barrier methods. And the main victims here are the women and their future children, not the men who seek them out or the corporations making money off the construction and consequent destruction of the Amazon and its natives.

Environmental destruction

Biologist Pedro Sentero says that Peruvians from the highlands have moved to more fertile lowlands to cut down trees and make room for farming. Some people opt for illegal gold mining instead. He said the new highway could make these migrations and the resulting environmental destruction rocket.

Although sustainable harvesting of Brazil nuts allows for an income without sacrificing the rainforest, some growers eschew it because it doesn’t provide them with enough money.

Amazon Conservation Association President Adrian Forsyth says this rainforest hosts 1,005 species of birds, 13 types of monkeys, and 120 species of bats.

“If we destroy the biological heritage of the Andes and the Amazon basin, we are impoverishing Peruvians, Brazilians and, indeed, the entire world,” says Bruce Babbitt, chairman of the World Wildlife Fund in the U.S.

But…

"Welcome to the Interoceanic Highway South. Sao Paolo, Brazil 4601 kilometers." Photo by NPR

The Brazilian Government is investing part of the financing for a highway construction leading from its Atlantic coast through Peru’s Pacific coast. The last portion is being built in Peru as you read this.

The project will bring new jobs, merchandise, and other financial advantages to the national economy and Peruvians living in isolated Andean villages – as well as environmental destruction in one of the most untraveled and biodiverse rainforests on Earth, the Peruvian Amazon.

Brazil’s dream is “to finally reach the dream of three centuries, which is that even if there is not a Brazilian flag, at least there will be a Brazilian economy on the shores of the Pacific,” said Bruce Babbitt, current chairman of the World Wildlife Fund in the U.S. and former secretary of the interior during the Clinton Administration.

The Peruvian Government, of course, is happy about the opportunities the highway will bring to its people and economy as well.

These developments are also enabling the increase of prostitution, unplanned pregnancies, and venereal diseases taking place. Not to mention the growth of illegal gold mining, which Peruvians in need hope will provide them a higher income.

Thousands of workers live along the road are assembling the highway into the Andes. Apart from the Interoceanic Highway, two other roads traversing the Peruvian Amazon are being forced into the Andes, also with heavy machinery, day and night, thanks to the Brazilian engineering and construction giant Odebrecht.

On the other hand, new shops have already been springing up along the highway to service passersby. One was opened by a woman who lives in an Andean village with a population of 250. You can imagine how much people in these circumstances would need a new source of income.

The Peruvian Government considers the project essential to bring prosperity all around.

Additionally, some hope that ecotourism will grow as a result of facilitated access. But while Peru has favorable protection laws, they are not enforced.

So how do you choose?

Alas, nearsighted governmental authorities have opted not to look into alternative ways to help these people.

It seems like a no-brainer for Brazil when you consider the country’s impetus: easier access to the Pacific to escalate trade with Peru and China, the latter a major business partner. But how practical is transporting soy beans by truck across a staggering amount of miles before you can sell or ship them overseas?

Brazil also plans to invest in five massive dams in Peru, whose purpose will be to generate energy for the massive country.

The moral of the Brazilian Amazon

Since the highway began to construction in the 1970s, unbridled deforestation has been ravaging the Amazon. Isn’t this enough?