tagged w/ Global Trade
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Tuesday, December 7th
7:00 pm doors open/chocolate tasting; 7:30 pm program begins
Chocolate Dividends and World Centric invite you to a screening of the 2010 documentary, The Dark Side of Chocolate. Global Exchange Fair Trade Campaign Director, Adrienne Fitch-Frankel will introduce the film.
The Dark Side of Chocolate, "Is the chocolate we eat produced with the use of child labour and trafficked children? The award winning Danish journalist Miki Mistrati decides to investigate the rumours."
World Centric Community Space Wheelchair Accessible
2121 Staunton Court, Palo Alto, CA 94306Tuesday, December 7th
7:00 pm doors open/chocolate tasting; 7:30 pm program begins... more
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eva2
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added this
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1 year ago
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A joint report released today by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the UN Environment Program (UNEP) finds that our natural support systems are on the verge of collapsing unless radical changes are made to preserve the world's biodiversity. Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Ahmed Djoghlaf, called the bleak report "a wake-up call for humanity."
The report is the third edition of the Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO-3). Employing scientific assessments and 110 government reports, the report confirms that governments around the world have failed in their 2002 pledge to reduce biodiversity loss by this year. Instead, the five biggest causes behind biodiversity loss—habitat destruction, over-exploitation of resources, pollution, invasive species, and climate change—have either worsened or stayed the same.
"We need a new vision for biological diversity for a healthy planet and a sustainable future for humankind," Secretary-General of the UN, Ban Ki-moon, said.
In addition the report warns that several ecosystems are heading toward tipping points from which they may never recover. Due to a combination of climate change, deforestation, and fires, the Amazon rainforest may change irrevocably; while coral reefs are being pounded by overfishing, warmer waters, and ocean acidification; finally freshwater ecosystems like lakes and rivers are losing biodiversity and abundance due to nutrient runoff.
"Business as usual is no longer an option if we are to avoid irreversible damage to the life-support systems of our planet," Djoghlaf said.
Officials are increasingly comparing the current biodiversity crisis to the global economic meltdown of 2008-2009, stating that while governments moved quickly to tackle the economic crisis they have responded languidly to the many threats to the world's environmental systems. These systems underpin the human economy by providing food, clean water, pollination, pest control, buffers from natural disasters, medicine, and carbon sequestration to name a few of their natural goods, known to researchers as 'ecosystem services'.
"For a fraction of the money summoned up instantly to avoid economic meltdown, we can avoid a much more serious and fundamental breakdown in the Earth’s life support systems," write the report's authors.
Yet, Achim Steiner, the Executive Director of the UNEP, says that "many economies remain blind to the huge value of the diversity of animals, plants and other life forms and their role in healthy and functioning ecosystems from forests and freshwaters to soils, oceans and even the atmosphere."
* see comments below for more
http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0510-hance_wake_up.htmlA joint report released today by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the... more
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China supports Russia's bid for membership of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and hopes for its accession into the alliance at an early date, a senior official of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said here on Monday.
The BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) are important representatives of the world's emerging markets, Yu Jianhua, director general of the international department of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said.
China, India and Brazil are also core participants of the Doha round of global trade talks, Yu told a briefing one day before a meeting of the BRIC leaders in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg.
China completed its talks on bilateral market access with Russia as early as 2004 and hopes that Russia will enter the WTO as soon as possible, Yu said.
Russia, which has been seeking WTO membership for more than 15 years, is the largest economy still outside the global trade watchdog.
When asked about a question related to trade protectionism, Yu said China, India and Brazil were all victims of the protection policy taken by developed countries. "Therefore, the BRICs enjoy a common stance on this issue."
At the G20 summit in London in April, the BRICs together with some other participating states agreed to jointly resist trade protectionism, Yu said, adding that the parties concerned are now fulfilling the consensus reached at the London summit.
Trade disputes within the BRICs remain, but they will address this through negotiations so as to further trade and economic development, Yu said.China supports Russia's bid for membership of the World Trade Organization (WTO)... more
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Freight rates for containers shipped from Asia to Europe have fallen to zero for the first time since records began, underscoring the dramatic collapse in trade since the world economy buckled in October.
"This is no regular cycle slowdown, but a complete collapse in foreign demand," said Lindsay Coburn, ING's trade consultant.
Idle ships are now stretched in rows outside Singapore's harbour, creating an eerie silhouette like a vast naval fleet at anchor. Shipping experts note the number of vessels moving around seem unusually high in the water, indicating low cargoes.Freight rates for containers shipped from Asia to Europe have fallen to zero for the... more
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bshipp
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added this
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3 years ago
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What's the true price of love? Current Vanguard Journalists head to Colombia and Sierra Leone to explore the unromantic stories behind two symbols of love.
Produced by: Evan B. Stone, Kaj Larsen, Jael de Pardo, Darren Foster & Mariana van ZellerWhat's the true price of love? Current Vanguard Journalists head to Colombia and... more
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Kaj
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added this
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3 years ago
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The international community had pushed for stronger sanctions against the burmese junta. Japan cuts millions of dollars in aid. big frickin deal. I think sanctions will force the country into deeper isolation and further threaten the livelihood of its citizens. Many of whom have been locked up after the protests. Plus, just because the EU, Japan, and the US decided to impose new sanctions, embargos, whatever... We are basically handing over the influence and power to countries like China and India to step in and fill the void in Burma, thus further lifting China's role as a developing world power.
So is this really a move forward to pushing for change or just a pacified attempt to keep the order of world politics moving right along?
The international community had pushed for stronger sanctions against the burmese... more
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