Environment

Why We Say No to CAFTA

This report on the U.S.-Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) was released by Bloque Popular Centroamericano, the Alliance for Responsible Trade and the Hemispheric Social Alliance. Through the collective effort of U.S. and Central American groups, this analysis sounds the warning that CAFTA would throw into chaos everything from agriculture to pharmaceutical drug prices.

UNEP Regional Office Urges Caution On Transgenics

IPS | March 3, 2004 Mexico City, 3 Mar (IPS/Diego Cevallos) -- The United Nations Environment Programme warned Wednesday in Mexico that transgenic crops could pose a threat to biodiversity and human health, and recommended that the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean act with caution in using genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

Raising The Quality Bar Of Environmental Reporting By Firms

New Straits Times (Malaysia) | March 7, 2004 NUMEROUS companies world-wide have jumped onto the corporate environmental reporting (CER) bandwagon. Although the growing numbers of reporters are encouraging, the overall standard of reporting leaves plenty to be desired.

.US.: Climate Change Could Cause Global Woe

The Miami Herald | By SETH BORENSTEIN | February 24, 2004 U.S.: Climate change could cause global woe; A new report ordered by the Pentagon warns that a sudden change in climate could become a violent global battle for control of scarce resources.;

Britain Fires Early Salvo In GM Foods Row

Agence France Presse | February 17, 2004 Britain fired a shot across the bows of the United States over genetically-modified (GM) food as environment ministers from around 70 countries prepared to meet here Wednesday on preserving the diversity of life on earth.

Brazilian Farmers To Pay Monsanto For Soybean Seeds

The New York Times | By Tony Smith | January 29,

Court Upholds NAFTA Tribunal In Ruling Over Ottawa""s PCB Move: $8-Million Judgment

National Post's Financial Post | By Ian Jack | January 15, 2004 OTTAWA - The Federal Court has thrown out a government appeal of a multi-million-dollar judgment under NAFTA's controversial Chapter 11.

FDA Rarely Tests For Toxic Pollutants Found in Salmon Study

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) fish safety testing does not include, except for limited samples through their Total Diet Study, PCBs and dioxins - pollutants which were found to be widespread in farmed salmon in a study published last week.

NAS Criticizes the Corps' Study of Mississippi River Navigation

The Army Corps of Engineers continues to use questionable economic methodology to evaluate whether a massive multibillion dollar lock expansion project is necessary on the Upper Mississippi River and Illinois Waterways (UMR-IW), according to a new report by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) panel released today.

EU Rejects Application To Import Syngenta GM Corn, Keeps Moratorium

AFX European Focus | December 8, 2003 An EU panel of experts has rejected an application to import Syngenta AG's 'Bt-11' genetically modified (GM) sweetcorn, effectively postponing a decision on whether to lift a ban on biotech crops, the European Commission said.