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Nothing could be as much a mirror of poor people’s food plight today as Thai farmers reportedly conducting armed vigils in their rice fields at night to prevent thieves from reaping the crop.
As a measure against nocturnal rice thefts, Thai authorities introduced a six o’clock p.m. curfew on combine harvesters, vehicles used to harvest the crop.
In Thailand, as in many parts of Asia, the price of rice has gone up dramatically in recent months tempting greedy and corrupt dealers to use any means available to get a hold of the pricey grain for either sell or hoarding. In fact, the hoarding of rice has been blamed for the price spirals forcing governments to impose buying rations.
According to the Asia Development Bank (ADB), approximately 1 billion Asians need assistance to cope with soaring food prices and shortages.
The purchasing power of many of Asia’s poor has been seriously eroded reversing previous gains made in fighting poverty.
The International Herald Tribune describes rice, a staple food for half of the global population, as one of the “world’s most politically fragile crop.”
It is one of the least discussed issues when we discuss solutions to the environmental crisis. It is not whether or not the food is organic or sprayed with synthetic chemicals, or whether or not it is grown locally. The underdiscussed issue is the importance of a vegetarian diet for addressing critical environmental issues.
As Albert Einstein said, “Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances of survival for life on earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.”
The big issue today is global climate change. It is likely to dwarf any environmental issues we faced in the past. As reported by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization:
[T]he livestock sector is a major stressor on many ecosystems and on the planet as a whole. Globally it is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gases…. It currently amounts to about 18 percent of the global warming effect — an even larger contribution than the transportation sector worldwide.
This is a critical issue. This is more critical than our power plants, our industries, the energy efficiency of our homes and appliances, or even transportation.
By Eva Pratesi •
June 5, 2008
“Our world is in the grip of a dangerous carbon habit,” UN secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon Ban said in a statement to mark the celebration of World Environment Day today. “Kick the Habit” (the ‘carbon’ habit) is the international slogan for the event that promotes a movement towards a low carbon economy. World Environment Day, conceived in 1972, is the United Nations’ principal day to mark global green issues and aims to give a human face to environmental problems and solutions.
Not only humans but also art works seem to participate at this global fight against pollution and carbon consumption. It was early this morning in Rome when joggers and dog walkers alerted the police because around 150 statues across the city were wearing anti-pollution masks over their mouths!
By Mark Seall •
April 7, 2008
Following the tears and last minute dramas of last year’s Bali climate talks I’ve been eagerly awaiting the opportunity to write of intriguing political entanglements following last week’s United Nations Climate Change negotiations in Bangkok.
As expected, there were no major advances made, but unexpectedly there were few disagreements either. The wheels of diplomacy continue to grind slowly towards a solution which may or may not deliver some actual benefits. There are some who suspect that negotiators are biding their time until new US administration gets to work later this year. Then there is the other theory that the world has just gotten tired of seemingly never ending negotiations in tropical locations.
By Adam Bowman •
March 24, 2008
Five years have gone by. The U.S. casualty toll is now 4,000. It is estimated that some 80,000 plus Iraqi civilians have lost their lives in the war.
Photo Courtesy of Luke Plunkett @ Kotaku.com
There isn’t a body count for wildlife, native plants, or eco-systems that have been killed in the struggle.
War takes a priceless toll on everything natural. Yet, nature may be the last thing that nations go to [...]
By Lee Welles •
February 8, 2008
When I was in 7th grade, someone gave me a “word-a-day” vocabulary building calendar. Nothing made me happier than showing off with words like “incongruous.” What would have made it more fun, however, would’ve been doing good while expanding my word use!
The UN World Food Program has come up with an ingenious game, Free Rice. You are presented with four or five definitions for a word and with each correct answer, 20 grains of rice are donated to feed the hungry around the world.
It didn’t take me long to work up to 1080 grains of rice and I had the option to set the game to remember my computer and add to the total.
If you’re followed the news at all over the last two days, it’s hard to escape that the UN’s Climate Conference in Bali started yesterday… and that there’s already good news out of it. Yet, I’ve already come across a couple of op-ed pieces from around the world (and not from climate change skeptics) claiming that whatever agreements come out of the Bali conference won’t make a huge difference. German member of parliament and president of the EUROSOLAR organization Hermann Scheer, for instance, told Deustche Welle:
For many governments, these meetings take the place of doing something, according to the unwritten motto: “Speak globally, delay nationally.” Everything is put off until the conference, even though they know that no real break-through decisions will happen there. The question has to be asked: Is this the right level to be solving these problems at? …
These conferences do have significance, which is why they should be held — that is, raising awareness of the problem and creating public pressure on the countries to act. Their value is in keeping the topic up high on the political agenda. But you can’t expect the necessary, practical solutions here. Action has to happen later, in the individual countries themselves.
Deloitte’s head of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Practice Valerie Chort doesn’t use quite such strong language in her Globe & Mail op-ed, but she does note that “Forward thinking organizations realize they can’t sit back and wait for world governments to provide targets and direction if they are to remain competitive in a global economy.” The bottom-line case for companies to address and reduce their carbon footprints already exists; an international (or even national) standard will help companies with targeting and planning, but won’t necessarily create more urgency on the issue.
By Joshua S Hill •
November 11, 2007
2007 is quickly coming to a close, and for the environmental community that means two big meetings are about to occur. The first begins tomorrow (Monday the 12th) in the Mediterranean port city of Valencia, Spain. It is the meeting of the Nobel winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and they are coming together to make a concise report on global warming.
From their official site, a snappy little video plays explaining just what has come together to make [...]
By Joshua S Hill •
November 11, 2007
It is unarguably the world’s most picturesque and glorious continent, and one of the last places on Earth where man has not been able to achieve dominion. But that doesn’t mean Antarctica isn’t feeling the effects of mankind. In fact, for the first time in 1,800 years, its temperatures are beginning to rise.
Northern Thinking
The world is very much split in to two halves. The Northern Hemisphere contains approximately 90% of the planets human population and the majority of the landmass [...]
The oceans and atmosphere are warming, and now the global warming blame game is also heating up. Inuit in Shishmaref are seeking damages for the climate change that has forced them from their 4,000-year-old community. And 12 states recently prevailed in a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that states carbon dioxide is a pollutant that can be regulated by the U.S. EPA.
In the past week alone, we've seen the U.N. point
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