Posted on November 21st, 2008 by Green Assembly
SINGAPORE ~ The palm oil industry body, the Roundtable on Sustainable Oil (RSPO), has failed dismally to take up the challenge of sustainable oil, Greenpeace said yesterday.
“‘Sustainable palm oil’ continues to be a farce while RSPO stands exposed as a weak and ineffectual industry body.” said Bustar Maitar, Greenpeace Southeast Asia forest campaigner.
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Posted on November 20th, 2008 by Green Assembly
VIENTIANE (Laos) ~A hydropower development in the lower Mekong River could negatively impact the livelihoods of millions of Vietnamese who rely on fishing and irrigation in the area.
Without referring specifically to the Asian Development Bank and World Bank-funded US$1.45 billion Nam Theun 2 Hydropower dam under construction upstream in Laos, a Vietnamese official said hydropower development could block or divert the flow of river water affecting fish and soil.
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Posted on November 19th, 2008 by Green Assembly
SINGAPORE ~ Indonesia’s agriculture minister Mr Anton Apriyantono said international demands for a moratorium on the country’s drive to expand oil palm plantations, is beyond the control of his government.
Speaking at the opening of the annual meeting of the recently discredited Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil in Bali, Apriyantono said any moratorium, including the one called for by Greenpeace, was out of the question.
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Posted on November 18th, 2008 by Green Assembly
JAKARTA ~ New research has revealed that Australia and Indonesia are likely to experience more frequent and intensified droughts, while eastern Africa and southern India is likely to get wetter.
Scientists studying the history of tropical weather patterns stored in long-lived corals have discovered that climate variability in the Indian Ocean has intensified during the 20th century, with implications for drought in Australia and the region. The findings are published in the latest edition of the journal Nature Geoscience.
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Posted on November 17th, 2008 by Green Assembly
SINGAPORE ~ Greenpeace is calling upon the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil to take immediate action against member companies that are destroying Indonesia’s forests and peatlands.
Greenpeace research shows that the “Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil” (RSPO), which opens its annual shindig in Bali today, is little more than greenwash, the organisation said in a statement.
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Posted on November 14th, 2008 by Green Assembly
BANGKOK ~ The number of electric-powered bikes in China has jumped from 10 million in 2005 to more than 20 million in 2007, according to a report issued today.
The Clean Air Initiative-Asia (CAI-Asia), said rapid growth in demand is due to several reasons, including China’s bicycle culture, recently introduced policies that allow e-bikers to use regular bicycle lanes and competitive pricing.
E-bikes in China cost between US$200 and $300, depending on size, quality and battery type. Read more »
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Posted on November 13th, 2008 by Green Assembly
BEIJING ~ Cities from Beijing to New Delhi are getting darker, weather systems are becoming more extreme, and glaciers in mountain ranges like the Himalayas are melting faster than predicted, says a United Nations report issued today.
And it is all due to human-made Atmospheric Brown Clouds (ABCs) and greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the United Nations Environment Program said in a statement.
Frightening conclusions are to be drawn from the report which follows scientific studies of a three-kilometre-thick layer of atmospheric soot that stretches from the Arabian Peninsula to China and the western Pacific Ocean.
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Posted on November 12th, 2008 by Green Assembly
SINGAPORE ~ The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is responsible for damaging the lives of some of the poorest people in Asia, according to a report from Oxfam Australia.
The report, A Citizen’s Guide to the Greater Mekong Subregion, disputes ADB’s claims that its Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Program has led economic growth and poverty reduction in the region.
On the contrary, many of the poorest people are worse off than ever before, says the report.
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Posted on November 11th, 2008 by Green Assembly
JAKARTA ~ The body set up to certify “sustainable” palm-oil production in Malaysia and Indonesia is completely ignoring greenhouse gas emissions in its certification procedure, according to a report issued today.
In a damning statement, Wetlands International says that palm oil shipped to Europe by members of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is far from sustainable because it is produced from palm trees planted on peatland.
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Posted on November 10th, 2008 by Green Assembly
HO CHI MINH CITY ~ Vietnam’s state-owned oil and gas company -Vietnam Oil and Gas Corporation (PetroVietnam) - is investing US$116 million to set up a bioethanol plant, but environmental costs are not being discussed.
The facility, which is located in the Dung Quat economic zone in central Ngai province, is expected to be operational by 2010 with an annual production capacity of 100 million tonnes of ethanol which will be added to gasoline for transport fuel.
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