Argentina and Uruguay last month traded accusations over environmental monitoring of a massive Uruguayan pulp mill that started up in 2007 on the banks of the Uruguay River, a portion of which flows along their common border. The one-million-ton-per-year mill, now operated by the Finnish company UPM and originally built by Botnia, also of Finland, is subject to joint monitoring under an order issued in April 2010 by the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Uruguayan and Argentine authorities for the past two months have been negotiating the release of monitoring information by the Uruguay River Administrative Commission (Caru), the binational entity tracking environmental impacts from the mill. Last month, the Argentine government accused Uruguay of “permanently obstructing” monitoring work...
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The Amazon region is falling short in key development areas three years before the 2015 deadline for achieving the Millennium Development Goals, a series of UN-monitored targets for improving living conditions in developing countries. Human and ecosystem health are among the areas showing insufficient improvement in the Amazon region, according to a recent report by a consortium of nonprofit environmental and development organizations. In some cases, a country’s overall development indicators may show substantial gains, but the Amazon lags behind, especially in rural areas. Experts say the findings point to a need for development indicators that consider geographic and cultural differences within countries, as well as more environmental factors. The 20 Millennium Development Goals set by the United Nations in 2000 are divided into...
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As Guatemala weighs changes in its mining laws, advocacy groups in Canada and Guatemala are warning against undue outside influence, criticizing in particular a visit here in August by five Canadian lawmakers. The advocacy groups cite an Aug. 29-31 trip to Guatemala by four members of the Canadian Parliament, two of whom serve on the Parliament’s Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development and one senator. The trip, hosted by the Canadian mining company Goldcorp, was a “routine, good-will” visit, according to Goldcorp’s Guatemalan subsidiary, Montana Exploradora. It included a stop at Goldcorp’s controversial Marlin Mine, and meetings with government mining officials, including Guatemala’s congressional Commission on Energy and Mines. MiningWatch, a Canadian NGO, argues that it is not routine for politicians to...
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A new study gives the health of the world’s oceans a barely passing average grade of 60 out of 100, but the waters of individual Central and South American countries fare worse. The Ocean Health Index, issued in August, gives Suriname the highest score of mainland countries in the region, with 69, and Antigua and Barbuda the highest in the Caribbean, at 71. Peru, with one of the world’s largest fisheries, pulled a 44, among the region’s lowest grades, on a par with Haiti and just ahead of Nicaragua, which scored 43. The index rates countries in 10 areas—food provision, artisanal fishing opportunities, natural products from the oceans, conservation of coastal habitats that store carbon, coastal protection, coastal livelihoods and economies, tourism and recreation...
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