Now, for the first time, scientists have observed long-tailed macaques fishing with their bare hands.

Unilever, makers of Dove, has recently released a video aimed at promoting children’s self-esteem by illuminating how the beauty industry targets girl’s body images. The goal of the Dove Self Esteem Fund is to change “the current, narrow definition of beauty.”  As much as I agree with this goal, there is a downside. Unilever imports palm oil from Indonesia, where rainforests and tropical peatlands are destroyed.  According to It’s the Only One We Have:

• Indonesia is the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, in large part due to the destruction of its forests at the hands of the palm oil industry.

• Unilever is buying palm oil from suppliers who destroy Indonesia’s rainforests. Unilever is the biggest user of palm oil in the world and chair of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), so it has huge clout in how palm oil is made.

Here is Greenpeace’s video response:

Certainly beauty, self-esteem, and environmental preservation can go hand in hand!

1. World — Earth Hour 2008

As the clock struck eight in the evening, people across each time zone turned off their lights on March 29. It’s activism en mass and it’s called Earth Hour. The purpose: to inspire people to take action on climate change and to demonstrate that massive and immediate action is possible.

Earth Hour began as a city-wide voluntary blackout in Sydney, Australia, in 2007. This year, they’ve moved the date ahead two days and invited the world to join in. Even Google’s joined in. People from roughly 35 countries participated in this global event, which has become a yearly call to action. Read more: EcoWorldy, CNN.

2. Asia — Japanese Man Crosses Pacific with Wave-Powered Boat

A Japanese man named Kenichi Horie is attempting to be environmentally friendly by boating across the Pacific without sails and without fossil fuels.

How does he do it? With a wave-powered boat. Wave power has been discussed quite a bit recently, with a lot of applications including traditional grid energy generation. However, Kenichi is taking things to the next level by powering his ocean going vehicle with the very thing it bobs atop. Read more: Gas 2.0.

3. Antarctica — Huge Arctic Ice Chunk Collapses

A chunk of Antarctic ice about seven times the size of Manhattan suddenly collapsed, putting an even greater portion of glacial ice at risk, scientists said Tuesday.

Satellite images show the runaway disintegration of a 160-square-mile chunk in western Antarctica, which started February 28. It was the edge of the Wilkins ice shelf and has been there for hundreds, maybe 1,500 years. Read more: CNN.

4. Asia — Third Annual ‘World Renewable Energy Summit’ Held in Kuala Lumpur

The third annual ‘World Renewable Energy Summit (WRES)’ was held at the JW Marriot hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from March 27 to 28.

The surge in energy demand and oil prices combined with the depletion of fossil fuels has the world turning to renewable energy as a solution. Research and insights to the latest developments and trends are vital to the renewable energy market. Read more: Energy Asia.

5. Africa — South Africa Considers Elephant Culling

Elephant population in South Africa has increased to more than 20,000 from 8,000 thirteen years in 1995 when the country was talking tough against culling. With overpopulation, the elephants come into conflict with people as they search for their daily diet of about 300 kilograms of grass, leaves and twigs.

South African environment minister, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, says: “Our simple reality is that elephant population density has risen so much in some southern African countries that there is concern about impacts on the landscape, the viability of other species and the livelihoods and safety of people living within elephant ranges.” Read more: EcoWorldly, BBC.

6. South America — Continued Pressure on the Amazon Rainforest

A six-year study of Amazonian small farmers and their responses to climate change shows the farmers are vulnerable to natural catastrophes and risky land use practices, say Indiana University Bloomington anthropologists Eduardo Brondizio and Emilio Moran. Read more: ENN.

Several other threats to the Amazon cropped up elsewhere in the news this week. Time Magazine focused on the threat of certain biofuels to forests. In addition, EcoEarth passed around a petition to keep soybean farming out of the Amazon.

7. Europe / Asia — Soviet Pollution

Camels cross the dry bed of the Aral Sea… A gloss of oil and chemicals sheens standing water in an oil field near Baku… Hospital staff cares for an infant plagued by immune deficiencies… Nuclear fallout from the Semey test site has resulted in a plague of birth defects… Homey décor does little to ease young fears at a medical diagnostic center… Area residents suffer nightmarishly high rates of cancer and other diseases linked to fallout from nuclear tests… These children, all from two city neighborhoods, were born with missing forearms. Many scientists suspect their congenital deformities to be caused by Moscow’s bewildering mix of pollutants… In winter, men drill fishing holes in the ice of the Ural River. Knowing that the river is badly polluted by the Steel Works looming behind them, they often sell their catch to markets rather than consume it themselves… Children play in the inky pools of runoff from leaky oil pumps. Read more and see the photos: Gerd Ludwig Photography via Digg.

8. Europe — 1000 Activists Close Down NATO

About 1,000 people from 17 European countries went to the NATO headquarters in Brussels on the 23rd of March to take part in the international non-violent action NATO GAME OVER. 5 years after the start of the Iraq war and 10 days before the Bucharest NATO summit, peace activists from all over Europe demonstrate that preventing war starts in Europe. Read more: Independant Media Center, Sherwood Gazette.

9. Asia — Buy A Tree and Watch it Grow Thanks to Google Earth

Your $5.50 donation will buy a tree, lifelong care and feeding, scientific study of the forest that it becomes a part of, and the exact coordinates of where that tree is on our big beautiful Earth. Linking that data with Google Earth shows the precise location (on the island of Borneo) of the tree, as well as all of its hundreds of neighbors.

You can buy trees that will be planted in Indonesia today at MyBabyTree.org. Read more: EcoGeek.

10. Africa — Local Communities Use Science to Re-green Tanzanian ‘Desert’

Two decades ago former President Julius Nyerere characterized it as the ‘Desert of Tanzania.’ Today much has changed in Shinyanga and Tabora provinces, a dryland region in western Tanzania.

Gradually and steadily, residents are reclaiming large parcels of land through the efforts of their communities and public sector agencies. They are rehabilitating once-thriving dryland ecosystems using science-based agroforestry techniques. Read more: World Agroforestry Center via ENN.

With all the gloomy news coming these days from Wall Street, it’s great to see that when it comes to the environment, Wall-Street is still bullish. I’m talking about the news on Merrill Lynch new investment of $9 million to finance a project to protect 750,000 hectares of forest in Indonesia.

Dana Mattioli reported last week on the Environmental Capital blog of the Wall Street Journal about the new green deal. Firstly, let’s make one thing clear - this is not a donation or anything like that. It is an investment that according to the article is supposed to generate Merrill annual proceeds of $432 million over the next 30 years.

The expected income will come from in carbon financing, which means that someone will pay Merrill to offset polluting activities elsewhere with the amount of carbon dioxide that won’t be emitted (3.4 million tons of carbon dioxide every year) because of the fact that the trees will be kept alive and won’t be cut down.

Carbon financing based on forest protection wasn’t permitted under the Kyoto Protocol, but as we reported in the past, it was discussed in the U.N.’s Bali meeting in December last year. Though it is not approved yet, there’s a good chance it will be part of the post-Kyoto program that will replace in 2012.

Although carbon financing is far from being proven as an efficient and beneficial solution, I am very supportive of adding the forest protection into the program. Unfortunately, economic forces are the ones leading most of the deforestation and therefore it might be that economic forces may be the best realistic remedy.

I believe that Merrill will be followed by many other institutional financiers that will see an opportunity in protecting forests. For many forests this involvement will make the difference between deforestation and conservation.

Together, the Southeast Asian countries of Indonesia and Malaysia control about 85% of the world’s crude palm oil market. In Indonesia, the biodiesel industry employs 1.5 million people and Malaysia has already approved 91 new biodiesel plants. Currently, about 30% of Malaysia’s total oil production is biodiesel from palm oil.

The pros of palm oil for use in biodiesel have drawn interest from the international business community. Finnish biodiesel mogul, Neste Oil, is working on opening the world’s largest biodiesel plant in Singapore using a palm oil feedstock. The plant is set to go online in 2009 with a production capacity of 800,000 metric tons per year of biodiesel–16,000 barrels, in oil terms. Neste is followed by many other companies, including Australian Mission Biofuels, which opened a new Malaysian plant in December and will produce 100,000 tons a year.

However, all’s not well in the Asian palm oil bodiesel market. Reuters reports that of the seven currently operating Malaysian biodiesel plants, many are running below capacity and plans for 14 new plants have been put on hold. In addition, rising palm oil prices, frequent flooding, and a number of environmental concerns have taken their toll on the industry.

Some environmental organizations link palm oil biofuels to deforestation. Greenpeace, for one, staunchly opposes palm oil as a source of biofuel based on this concern. The Center for Science in the Public Interest also stands firmly against palm oil, warning that it “harms health [when eaten], the rainforest and wildlife.”

It’s a funny situation: usually environmental and social groups lobby for alternatives to fossil fuels while oil companies and major international financial institutions continue with their business as usual production of those fuels. Here, the environmental groups are lobbying against the alternatives to fossil fuels that oil producers and the World Bank are pushing for.

To the protests from environmental groups, pro-palm oil organizations have several convincing responses. Firstly, they point out that oil palms are some of the most productive biofuel sources in the world. One hectare of oil palm plantation is enough to produce 5 metric tons of crude biodiesel a year. This means less land is required to produce biofuel this way. The Palm Oil Truth Foundation also argues that “in Malaysia, the expansion of oil palm plantations over the last decade came mostly from the conversion of other economic crops such as rubber, cocoa and coconut” and not from deforestation. The total amount of greenhouse gases reduced by palm oil biodiesel, claim proponents, is 40-60% over regular diesel.

Despite the setbacks, lagging production, and the current environmental debate, there may be hope yet for Asian biodiesels. Biodiesel from Southeast Asia is almost all exported and sold on the international biodiesel market. This means that biodiesel legislation outside of Seatheast Asia will encourage growth in production. Several countries have made moves toward such legislation. South Korea passed legislation that mandates a 3% biodiesel blend, though the energy ministry rejected the originally proposed 5%. In 2008, Finland will adopt similar legislation, mandating 2%. In the US as well, Congress is in the first steps of considering legislation that promotes biodiesel and enacts past biodiesel goals.

A Refined Solution?

Rather than remain at odds with environmental groups, Neste Oil has gone to work with the World Wildlife Fund to create a certification program for palm oil biodiesel produced sustainably. The program is called the Roundtable of Sustainable Palm Oil, or RSPO. For now, the success of the RSPO is as uncertain as is the future of palm biodiesel itself. Still, if palm biodiesel is to be pursued, the RSPO offers exciting promise for a clean and sustainable way to free the world of fossil fuels.

Resources:

Gas 2.0 | Green Options Media

Biodiesel: The Good and the Bad | Green Car Advisor

Biodiesel Draws Bipartisan Presidential Candidates Focus | Biodiesel.org (PDF)

S. 1616: Biodiesel Promotion and Quality Assurance Act of 2007 | Govtrack.us

Biodiesel around the world | Wikimedia

Pro-Palm Biodiesel References

Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil

Palm Oil Truth Foundation

Faced with soaring oil prices, Indonesia turns to biodiesel | The Christian Science Monitor

Indonesia: Palm Oil Production A Mainstay of North Sumatra Economy | Embassy of the United States

Southeast Asia’s Green Energy Industry Fuels Employment| The World Bank Group

No peace for Neste Oil | Biofuels International

South Korea’s energy ministry rejects five percent biodiesel blend, opts for three instead | Autoblog Green

Neste Oil to build a NExBTL Renewable Diesel plant in Singapore | Neste Oil

100,000 tps Biodiesel Refinery, Kuantan Port in Malaysia | Mission Biofuels

Anti-Palm Biodiesel References

Greenpeace: Neste palm oil-based biodiesel not so green | Helsingin Sanomat

Cruel Oil | The Center for Science in the Public Interest

Why is oil palm replacing tropical rainforests? | Mongabay

Asian biodiesel plants sit idle as costs soar | Reuters

Mass production of Malaysian biodiesel slow on soaring palm oil prices - report | Caro Diesel

Photo Source:

Palm Oil Fruit | Neste Oil

At each meeting, US delegates historically demand that the convention abandon mandatory carbon emission caps and then make a big show of walking out of the convention when this doesn’t seem likely.

In Bali, it was starting to look like more of the same. With the US demanding that it be given weaker emissions targets than the other 186 countries at the table, time was running out and another stalemate looked likely. The scene was tense and in extreme frustration Yvo de Boer, UN Climate Chief, left the table in tears.

But finally the US felt the heat. Under intense pressure from the international community and US citizens themselves, the United States agreed to move ahead with the rest of the world.

In his closing statement, Rachmat Witoelar, President of the UN Climate Change Conference, declared:

“I realize that you have been waiting a long time for this moment and, I can
assure you that it was well worth the wait.

We have a Roadmap!

I am delighted to say that we have finally achieved the breakthrough the
world has been waiting for: the Bali Roadmap!”

This Roadmap will serve to help countries work collaboratively to meet emissions targets after the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012. It opens up a dialogue that countries can now follow on climate change legislation progress. It also includes three core elements, which the UNFCCC describes as the “launch of the Adaptation Fund as well as decisions on technology transfer and on reducing emissions from deforestation.”

References and Resources:

The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali | UNFCCC

Breakthrough in Bali | David Suzuki Foundation

Photo Source:

Bali Convention Center | Flickr

Xeko doesn't just talk the eco-talk, though: it walks the eco-walk. All of the playing cards are made of recycled stock and printed with soy inks. In addition, players are encouraged to return their card wrappers to the company and earn Green Star points, which can be traded for free downloads. Furthermore, four percent of profits are donated to Conservation International for work to save the hotspots. What are hotspots? Hotspots provide the setting for Xeko missions, and are "the most threatened and species-rich places on Earth."

Currently numbered at 34, the hotspots contain 75 percent of the planet's most threatened mammals, birds and amphibians while covering just 2.3 percent of the Earth's surface. An estimated 50 percent of all vascular plants and 42 percent of land vertebrates exist only in these hotspots.