Green Options » trade

Big Wardrobe Shopping in UK

Delia Montgomery — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 19:08:59 +0000

Emma, who helps run the Internet’s numero uno fashion recycling website, contacted me to ask if I could imagine opening my wardrobe and choosing from over 10 million outfits? Of course I replied with enthusiasm and she said “welcome to the future of Bigwardrobe.com.”

Emma explains that it’s like a small environmentally-friendly version of eBay. Yet the merchandise is strictly apparel with three categories of men, women, kids. Love the tailored coat offering pictured.

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China Forgets “China-Only Wind Turbines” Policy, but Why?

Zachary Shahan — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:18:02 +0000

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about China’s new policy to focus on buying (almost entirely) “China-grown” wind turbines and wind turbine technologies with Chinese patents. That policy wasn’t a big hit internationally and China is back-tracking.

However, is it changing its stance out of international moral pressure or a major financial incentive (recent deal) in the US? And who is to benefit the most from this shift?

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Three Ways Obama Wins Republicans on Climate Change

Joe Walsh — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 00:49:54 +0000

Energy didn’t get a sniff in last night’s Obama press conference. That wasn’t really a surprise given the way that health care has elbowed its way into the political spotlight. You can count climate change among the “priorities” now in the shadows. Health care is all touch-and-feel…it plays with everyone.

Climate change? Not so much. If Jon Stewart is snoozing, we know that the rest of America - a goodly percentage of which is far across the spectrum from Stewart and outwardly hostile to climate change arguments - is tuned all the way out. That is partly because climate change, energy and the environment still are considered Birkenstock and granola issues. The Obama operatives that are still engaged on climate change have finally started to tweak the message in a way that might help sell a bill even to science skeptics and the generally apathetic.

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6 Businessmen Caught Smuggling 11 Tons of Ivory

Bryan Nelson — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 21:59:39 +0000

Six businessmen from Tanzania were charged today for smuggling 11 tons of elephant ivory worth $600,000 into the Philippines and Vietnam.

The men were charged under 11 counts of conspiracy, unlawful hunting, exporting concealed and undeclared items as well as making false documents. It’s likely that the intricate smuggling job was conducted between October 2008 and March this year.

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Save Tiger, Save Humanity: A Much Called For Rally in New Delhi

Govind Singh — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 05:46:03 +0000

“I See You, But Do You See Me??”

Alarmed with the almost daily reporting of rapidly declining tiger numbers and the inaction that follows, school children and several civil society groups in the Indian capital city of New Delhi are coming together to demand the basic right of the tiger–a Right to Survival. And in that, ensuring the survival of the entire human race. The Rally that follows a tiger consultation will also be a shift from all that has been done to all that needs to be done. As an organizer of the rally, comments like these are both inspiring and thought provoking.

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EPA Proposes New Stringent Standards For Large Ships

Ruedigar Matthes — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 21:46:28 +0000

In order to cut harmful emissions from maritime vessels, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the next steps of its coordinated effort on Wednesday. The steps include creating a rule under the Clean Air Act that would establish tough engine and fuel standards for U.S. flagged ships. The proposed rule would harmonize with international standards and lead to improved air quality throughout the country.

The new proposal follows a proposal made between the United States and Canada in March that would set aside thousands of miles of coast between the two countries as an Emission Control Area (ECA). The International Maritime Organization (IMO), a United Nations agency, will begin review of the ECA plan this month. The passage of the ECA plan would result in the enforcement of stringent standards placed on large ships that operate within 200 nautical miles of U.S. or Canadian coasts.

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The Climate Exchange: WTO and UNEP Team Up to Launch Climate Report

Ruedigar Matthes — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:35:44 +0000

June 29, 2009 - For the first time, the World Trade Organization (WTO) teamed up with the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) to release a report outlining the relationship between trade and climate change. The report describes the multitude of ways in which climate change and trade intersect.

Using current scientific knowledge as well as current literature and a survey of national policies, the two organizations worked together to create a report that summarizes concerns regarding existing and projected climate change, impacts of climate change, and on possible responses, through adaptation and mitigation, to the challenges posed by climate change.

The report states that climate change is “unequivocal.” The evidence, gathered through a review of thousands of scientific publications, is compelling, and describes that human activities are “very likely” the cause of such global warming.

The biggest concern that the report denotes is that; barring major changes in policy, law, action, and attitude, global greenhouse gas emissions are expected to increase over the coming decades, with emissions increasing anywhere from 25 to 90 percent by 2030. It is also anticipated that a greater proportion of greenhouse gases will be emitted from developing countries.

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EU Slaps Anti-Subsidy Biodiesel Tax on US Producers

Clayton B. Cornell — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 17:23:01 +0000

On March 13, the European Union will impose a counter-subsidy tax on U.S. biodiesel producers for “dumping” biodiesel on the European market.

European producers have been complaining about cheap imported biodiesel for quite a while, and it looks like a key European trade panel finally took action. The tax will be specific to each biodiesel producer:

ArcherDaniels Midland: 86 cents per gallon;
Cargill: 90 cents;
Imperium Renewables: 96 cents;
Green Earth Energy Fuels: 93 cents;
World Energy Alternatives: 96 cents;
Peter Cremer North America and remaining biodiesel producers will pay $1.36 per gallon.
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Trade and Climate Policies Must Be Linked in Post-Kyoto World

Joshua S Hill — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 19:07:04 +0000

An article over at SciDev.net today has caught my attention, as it should yours. Written by Glen Peters, a senior research fellow at the Center for International Climate and Environmental Research in Oslo, Norway, the article focuses on the idea that in a post-Kyoto Protocol world, trade and climate policies must be linked.

Peters’ main example was, rightfully so, China, and the mixed responsibilities in ensuring that their export and trade industry does not single-handedly doom the planet to a carbon ridden future.

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Ending Global Poverty? Seriously?

Puspa Sharma — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 11:11:04 +0000

Ensuring food safety and protecting health is one of the prime duties of every government, whether in a developed country or in a developing one. Accordingly, the WTO Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) has conferred upon every sovereign member of the WTO the right to set its own standards in the import of animal and plant products. However, the Agreement has stipulated that “the regulations should be based on science and should not arbitrarily or unjustifiably discriminate between countries where identical or similar conditions prevail.” But there are apprehensions that countries have been increasingly using these measures for trade protection by setting standards for imports that are higher than the international standards.

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Agriculture Subsidies and Rising Food Prices

Puspa Sharma — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:49:14 +0000

This is a guest post by Puspa Sharma, MA Candidate in Global Finance, Trade and Economic Integration at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver.

Exponential increases in food prices in recent times have created enormous challenges to governments, national and international organizations, and aid agencies everywhere in the world. The World Bank has estimated that the rising food prices could push an additional 100 million people into poverty, thereby undermining the current efforts geared towards poverty reduction.

Increasing demand, decreasing supply, and the rising oil prices, which are in turn affected by numerous other factors, have been some reasons for the rise in food prices. Demand for cereal grains has been rising not only as a result of population growth, but also because of the growing middle class population in countries like China and India. Growing incomes have resulted in more demand for cereal grains directly and also more meat and dairy, which in turn has raised the demand for more grains as feed for the livestock. Another more important reason for the rise in demand for food crops is the development of bio-fuels, which have attracted a great deal of attention in recent times.

On the supply front, according to a publication by the International Center for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD), droughts in Australia and Turkey and bad weather in Ukraine and parts of North America have resulted in less agricultural production which has caused food prices to rise. A more important, but often overlooked reason for the decrease in the supply of farm commodities against rising demand is that the subsidies that the developed countries have been providing to their agriculture sector have dampened world prices of those products and made the products of developing countries uncompetitive. This has had a tremendous impact in agricultural production in developing countries. In the absence of competitiveness and any other gains to be derived from agriculture, the developing countries have had less incentive to invest in agricultural infrastructure, agricultural research and development, and the like. As a result, agriculture production in these countries continually declined disrupting supply.

Then, who should take the blame of rising food prices? If we look at the demand side, we see that the demand has been rising in one part because of rising incomes in few developing countries, and on the other, because of the development of bio-fuels by the developed countries. On the supply side, drought and bad weather conditions are not something which are under human control, but less supply resulting from less production in developing countries owing to the agricultural policies of the developed countries definitely deserves attention.

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Energy Independence is Idiocy, Inanity….Just Plain Senseless, Proclaims John Stossel

Heidi Suydam — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 15:41:51 +0000

In an August 20th article for Real Clear Politics and an August 21st editorial written for the New York Sun, John Stossel heralds the “idiocy” or “inanity” of energy independence. Mr. Stossel explains, in his opinion, this goal is not worthy because he believes American energy independence includes the end of American energy trade in the global market. He expounds on this idea with details of backlash that could occur as the result of only relying on ourselves for energy, food and security. Why am I bringing these articles to your attention?

John Stossel is a prominent figure in American media. A well established, tenured journalist writing for several publications, and the co-host of ABC News’s 20/20. His role in the media undoubtedly influences people. Respectfully considering his broad knowledge of American politics, policy and media influence on these matters, this extreme view of an energy independent America is concerning and thought provoking.

Does energy independence for America mean that we have to extinguish all trade and global relationships? Or can energy independence for America consist of developing our technologies and resources to the point that we have the ability to sustain ourselves while still choosing to participate in the global market?

Ron Bengston, in his essay The Cost of American Energy Independence states:

How much will energy independence cost the American people? Before the answer can be given and understood, the definition of energy independence needs to be clarified. It is important to first understand that independence does not mean closed borders or isolation. The dictionary definition of independence is: “freedom from outside interference and the right to self-government.” Energy Independence means energy sovereignty; a concept that should be thought of much like we think of national independence. For example, the USA has interdependent relationships with other countries, both economically and militarily — however, if America’s economic or military “interdependence” becomes “dependence” to the point of undermining national sovereignty, there will be a public outcry… much like we see today regarding America’s oil dependence.

Clearly defining energy independence is a critical step in this process. As we hear politicians speaking and media outlets reporting on this topic, we need to understand how they define energy independence. What we learn here is that John Stossel views an energy independent America as extreme isolation from global markets with untold negative results. Ron Bengston views an energy independent America as a strong sovereign nation with a place in the global market. How do you define energy independence?

It is imperative that we stay informed and active in this process. “Energy Independence” has become a buzz word, a common phrase we hear from politicians, commercials, and news reports. To be informed citizens and voters we must define the issues for ourselves and then understand the perspective of those to whom we are listening.

As we approach November this year it is vital to understand Barack Obama and John McCain both have plans to pursue and energy independent America. Which plan fits what you see as the best pursuit for our country?

Photo Credit: Riah’s Photography via Flickr with permission

China Imports African Ivory

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 19:21:45 +0000

This post contains additional media. Click here to view the full post.

Many thanks to our friends at ZapRoot for featuring Sam Aola Ooko’s post on Chinese importation of African ivory on their latest show (above). We’re big fans… no one does indepth coverage with a healthy dose of humor better. Keep an eye out for more from ZapRoot on Thursdays: we’re going to start featuring them regularly on the GO Media blog network.

Museveni: African President Who Laughs Off Global Food Crisis with Open Arms

Sam Aola Ooko — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 10:31:49 +0000

“Khotso, pula, nala.”
“Peace, rain, prosperity.”
When there is peace and rain people live happier because they will not be fighting; they will plough their fields and will have food. - African proverb.

Listening to Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni at any forum has never been boring. He can make his audiences jeer and laugh at the same time but not without drama at times. Museveni is both loved and hated by many because of his straight talking. But that is not to say he does so all the time.

One such time was at a recent Commonwealth leaders meeting in London where he happily laughed off the current global food crisis.

What seems good riddance for his small landlocked nation in east Africa has been boggling minds elsewhere and governments from Argentina to Senegal, from Egypt to South Africa, have grappled with riots of sorts over high prices of food. In Haiti, it cost the political life of a prime minister who had to vacate office for failing to soften the hunger pangs of his people.

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Hunger and Anger in the Time of Food Riots

Sam Aola Ooko — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 10:06:49 +0000

Half the world is starving and many are becoming hungrier and angrier. Millions more are impoverished daily. Many of these are poor mothers and children in poor nations of Africa and other developing countries.

The New Face of Hunger is not a stark picture of battered and malnourished children in Ethiopia. It is the rise of commodity prices and super inflation now biting all across the globe.

The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation predicted in October 2007: “If prices continue to rise, it would not be surprising if we began to see food riots.” World food prices have risen 45 percent in the last nine months and there are serious shortages of rice, wheat and maize, according to FAO.

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Tangled Up in Green: NAFTA…Only If We Absolutely Hafta

Ranjit Arab — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 02:34:20 +0000

I don’t know if you caught it, but the whole Hillary Clinton-Barack Obama flap over NAFTA exposed a dirty little secret: The North American Free Trade Agreement isn’t about American jobs or cheap Mexican labor—it’s about Canadian oil.

Think as far back as two weeks ago. I know you can do it. Remember, Britney’s dad started taking control of her life… everyone you know bugged the hell out of you by constantly saying: “I drink your milkshake…”

Anyway, back then, Hillary and Obama were campaigning among blue-collar crowds in Ohio when news broke out that someone from the Obama camp called the Canadian government and reassured them that the tough talk on NAFTA was all just an act. Later, it was revealed that Hillary probably made a similar call.

All of which begged the question: Why would they care so much about Canada if this was about NAFTA? Hasn’t Uncle Lou told us time and time again that NAFTA is all about Mexico: its cheap labor, and its non-existent regulations, which entice American factories to relocate south of the border?

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Tangled Up in Green: Playground Politics in a Global Market

Adam Bowman — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 13:42:45 +0000

Presidential election campaign 2008 is well underway. And already the grade school politics are brought to the election playground.
In recent news, both Democratic front runners, in an attempt to woo voters, called for renegotiations of NAFTA. They also threatened to pull out of the trade agreement if U.S. demands aren’t met. Clearly a case of, “do what I want because our economic and military might can beat up your economic and military might.”

The North American Free Trade Agreement, has been under scrutiny since its inception.

Thankfully we have Republican Candidate John McCain to defend this groundbreaking trade agreement.

NAFTA isn’t perfect. It was the first time a free trade agreement existed among such economically disparate countries. It was definitely a great experiment, and a lot has been learned from the results. There is no denying that there have been significant advances in a globally sustainable market that was enabled by NAFTA.

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Swapping Kid Gear is Green, Hip Fun!

Jennifer Lance — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 02:39:42 +0000

Kids outgrow toys and clothes faster than the weeds in my garden (well, maybe not that fast). Beyond hosting your own kiddie swap, there are several sites now that make exchanging kids’ gear easier for families, who may not have local connections for such trades. Reusing and reducing the amount of your children’s paraphernalia will not only lessen your carbon footprint, but it will de-clutter your home!

Zwaggle: Kristen Chase of Cool Mom Picks calls Zwaggle, “basically a more organized Freecycle“. Organization is good, especially since Zwaggle focuses on socially responsible parents. It is a simple concept: “You receive Zwaggle points (or Zoints) by giving your gently used things to other families, then use those Zoints to obtain “new” things for your family.” You can obtain Zoints just by signing up through Parent Bloggers Network.

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Cotton and Tomato Travels: The Absurdity of World Trade

Heidi Strebel — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 14:03:58 +0000

Heave ho and the horn blows. It’s departure time for another container ship. Port of embarkation: Savannah, Georgia. Destination: Adana, Turkey. About 25 of the containers on this ship are filled with Georgian cotton. Despite the enduring cotton crisis in America, half a million tons of the fiber pass through the port of Savannah each year, representing some 500 million dollars in exports that are shipped to countries around the world, including China, Pakistan and Turkey.

Adana is the nation’s fourth largest city and the centre for the Turkish cotton and textile industries. In this case the American cotton is sent to a factory where it is spun and used to make towels. Great attention is paid to ensure high quality, oh-so-soft and fluffy towels to attract the Turkish shopper… or rather, the American shopper. The towels are packaged and sent to the United States on another container ship. This is crazy!

There are of course the energy and CO2 emissions involved in this to and from tango across the ocean. But even if we put aside such issues in the name of international trade, it cannot be denied that the system is absurd, especially given the fact that Turkey is one of the top ten cotton producers in the world.

The story of the roving Georgian cotton was recently told on national French television, forming one chapter in the larger chronicle of one container ship’s circumnavigation of the globe. It reminded me of another story, that of the traveling tomatoes told in We Feed the World (2005), a film by Austrian director Erwin Wagenhofer. Spanish tomatoes, ripened under the warm southern sun, have long supplied northern European markets. I was an occasional consumer, preferring the Spanish variety to the other widely available option, the tasteless variety grown in rainy Holland. Note: I was, for as it turns out, those tomatoes are not at all sun-ripened.

As shown in Wagenhofer’s film, in southern Spain tomatoes and other vegetables are grown in greenhouses, greenhouses as far as the eye can see and beyond. And not a tree to be found. They are grown using an artificial (read inefficient), irrigation system manned by workers from North and West Africa. The men work long hours and live in makeshift shacks in between the greenhouses. A large percentage of the produce from southern Spain is transported by truck to northern Europe, and a certain percentage is sent to different countries in Africa. Even with the higher production costs in Europe plus the transportation costs, the Spanish tomatoes are sold in Africa at cheaper prices than locally grown tomatoes. Absurd.

Why such absurdities in world trade? Much of the answer lies in subsidies. The devastating effects of first-world subsidized agriculture on markets in the developing world are well known. Subsidized produce is artificially competitive, encourages an increase in production and pushes international market prices down. Local farmers in developing countries cannot compete, and are forced out of business and into poverty. Yet the developed world continues to subsidize its agriculture. Disagreements over reducing subsidies in general and export subsidies in particular, have threatened to jeopardize several rounds of international trade talks over the past years. Both the European Union and the United States remain reluctant to renounce their protectionist measures.

Of course not all subsidies should be abolished. As said a few months ago during a discussion here on Green Options about the US Farm Bill, subsidies should not be paid to the barons of unfair unsustainable trade, the mega agribusinesses, but should fund local organic outfits, thereby encouraging the shift to green sustainable agriculture.

We Feed the World

World Trade Organization

Oxfam on Cotton Subsidies

UN Food and Agriculture Organization

Starbucks Backs Down, Allows Ethiopia Trademark Rights To Its Own Names

Brady Swenson — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 14:57:54 +0000

Starbucks announced yesterday that it has reached a licensing agreement with the Ethiopian government regarding the marketing use of Ethiopia's well-known coffee producing regions, most notably Sidamo, Yirgacheffe and Harar.

This is the resolution to a row that Starbucks began last year when the Ethiopian government filed applications to trademark its most famous coffee names. Securing the rights to these names would enable Ethiopia to capture more value from trade, by controlling their use in the market and thereby enabling farmers to receive a greater share of the retail price. Ethiopia’s coffee industry and farmers could earn an estimated $88 million USD extra per year, no small pittance when you consider that millions of Ethiopian coffee farmers bring home less than $300 USD per year for their crops.

In response, Starbucks successfully blocked Ethiopia's trademark applications in the US through some crafty maneuvering. According to Oxfam, the global coffee giant enlisted the support of the National Coffee Association to assist in blocking Ethiopia's bid. And it worked. In refusing Ethiopia its trademark, the US Patent and Trademark Office cited a position directly from the Starbucks' sponsored NCA letter of protest: The names Ethiopia wanted to trademark were "generic."

This move was good for Starbucks, which had been using the names of Ethiopia's famous coffee regions to sell roasted Ethiopian coffee for up to $26 per pound while farmers in Yirgacheffe were receiving as little as $0.60 to $1.40 per pound for their coffee. This angered international activist groups, including UK-based OxFam, which started a campaign to embarrass Starbucks for its blatant attempt to get richer off the backs of the poor and disadvantaged farmers who have lived for thousands of years in the regions that bear the profitable names in question. I participated in the campaign last November by handing out information to Starbucks employees in my hometown about the shameless profit-seeking, and having them and passers-by sign a petition. The campaign, which created consumer and even employee pressure, worked, and Starbucks announced a mutual agreement on Wednesday.

The agreement gives Ethiopia the marketing rights to the names of its coffee-producing regions while agreeing to contract out those rights to Starbucks for an undisclosed amount. Starbucks has also agreed to build a cupping laboratory in Ethiopia to help farmers improve the taste and quality of their coffee, which should help increase the value of Ethiopia's vital export. The company has also pledged to double purchases of coffee from East Africa by 2008. Starbucks currently buys 2% of Ethiopia’s $400 million coffee crop.

Sources: A Hot Cup of Money, Starbucks in Ethiopia coffee row, Starbucks in accord with Ethiopia