Rubber is one part of life of the people of the South, related both to the culture and economy of the last 108 years. The monoculture production system has replaced a traditional system of rubber forests, where rubber used to be grown in amongst fruit orchards and natural forests known as a suan somrom or “integrated garden”. Rubber plantations have been promoted through the government’s Welfare Fund for Rubber Plantations.
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Thailand is making big plans, in particular for the next ten years, to boost agrofuel production particularly through expansion of oil palm plantations. However, the plans are not going anywhere yet due to the price volatility of agrofuel feedstock like palm oil and sugar as well as growing environmental concerns.
Thailand has two types of agrofuels: gasohol (mixture of gasoline and ethanol) and biodiesel. Gasohol made by mixing gasoline with 10% ethanol is called E10 (Gonsalves 2006).
Every year for the past decade or so, Vietnam has faced paper shortages. This year is no exception. In May 2008, Vietnam's
newspapers reported that publishing houses and printers were facing difficulties in buying supplies. The shortages were happening even though the country's two biggest pulp and paper mills, Bai Bang and Tan Mai were operating at full capacity and paper imports had increased sharply during the first months of the year.
Ask any Cambodian what s/he considers to be the foundation of society and life in Cambodia and the answer is likely to be “land.” Land is livelihood. But equally, land is valued as an emblem of rootedness, belonging and stability, and is widely regarded as the very basis of social organisation in the country.
In December 2005, Burma's Senior General Than Shwe ordered the start of a nation-wide campaign to plant Jatropha curcas for
biodiesel production. The country was to plant eight million acres [3.2 million hectares], or an area the size of Belgium, within three years. Each of Burma's states and divisions, regardless of size, were expected to plant at least 500,000 acres. In Rangoon Division, 20% of all available land will be covered by jatropha.
Prepared by the Task Force on Communities and REDD of the Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy of IUCN in collaboration with the Global Forest Coalition. It is based on some of the best analysis produced by CEESP members on REDD, rights and equity, and the importance of Indigenous Territories and Community Conserved Areas (ICCAs), and the GFC Life as Commerce report.
Poznan, December 6. GenderCC, a worldwide network whose main objective is to integrate gender justice in climate change policy at local, national and international levels, has submitted today to the Secretariat of the UNFCC and is distributing to the delegates, the following document containing the main points the network believes should be taken into account in the Assembly document.
Only available in Spanish. Por Amigos de la Tierra, 2008
As a contribution for facilitating the involvement of civil society in the protection of the Earth’s climate, the WRM has recently published four briefings related to climate change:
From Green Ideals to REDD money. A brief history of schemes to save forests for their carbon.
November 2008, 6 pages. A short overview of latest developments with some basic conclusions and recommendations
An overview of selected REDD proposals.
In defence of Human Rights, Food Sovereignty, Biodiversity and Climate Justice
Ironically, on 16 October 2008, World Food and Food Sovereignty Day, a meeting will start in Cartagena (Colombia) to promote monoculture oil palm plantations, that are precisely the cause of so many violations of the Right to Food and contrary to food sovereignty insofar as they undermine the peoples’ right to produce their own food according to their territorial conditions and their food culture.
Agrofuels have been presented as the solution to the climate crisis and as a "clean" alternative to fossil fuels. But in reality they are neither "green" nor environmentally friendly, no matter how international financial institutions (such as the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank, among others) and transnational corporations would like to promote them.