December 2011

Judge Carlos Castro said the company behind the Belo Monte dam had shown that local fishing will not be impeded during construction, and the natural flow of the Xingu river will not be affected.

“The outcome on REDD safeguards is a step backwards from what was agreed in Cancun last year, which itself was far short of what could have been agreed in Copenhagen. The provisions for safeguards in forest conservation are being shredded”, says Raja Jarrah, CARE’s Senior Advisor on REDD.

"This is bad news for millions of indigenous people and local communities whose livelihoods depend on forests.”

RIO DE JANEIRO, Dec 13, 2011 (IPS) - Brazil aims to meet its climate change targets in agriculture by stimulating techniques that have been proven to reduce greenhouse gas emissions – but which may increase the use of toxic agrochemicals, activists say.

Direct seeding, restoration of grasslands, crop-livestock-forest integration, biological nitrogen fixation, commercial reforestation, and biogas production from animal waste are practices that can be financed by a soft credit line available since August.

Agriculture will most likely be included in future negotiations on global warming, experts said at the U.N. climate change talks in Durban, which may help address one of the top drivers of deforestation amid a spike in demand for farmland.