Costa Rica: The Carbon Neutrality Challenge

mattswriting — Thu, 15 May 2008 16:39:12 -0400

Costa Rica has declared that it will go carbon neutral by 2021. To meet that challenge, energy officials from the Central American nation have gone on a fact-finding tour of the United States, seeking out the best practices that can be incorporated in Costa Rica. UC Berkeley's Center for Latin American Studies is hosting a talk by Minister Dobles on Costa Rica’s efforts to mitigate carbon emissions at 5 p.m. on Monday, May 19 in Room 554, Barrows Hall, UC Berkeley Campus in Berkeley, California. The event is free and should last one hour. read more »

Debt-for-Nature Swaps

Molly — Sun, 11 May 2008 20:05:12 -0400

Ever heard of a debt-for-nature swap? As strange as it sounds, it is a wonderful way to aid poor countries and preserve biodiversity at the same time.

Third World countries face a dilema: how do they save their precious habitats and at the same time provide for the growing population? Not surprisingly, the people take priority. Therefore, pristine environmental locations are destroyed in the race for new resources and new farmland. These habitats contain varieties of specialized species and exotic plants that may only be found in that one place. Though these developing countries may be internationally pressured to conserve their environment, they simply cannot afford to set aside tracts of land and maintain them. read more »