Headlines around the world this week again brought attention to the impacts of dams in the Amazon on indigenous people. But this time the culprit wasn’t the monstrous Belo Monte Dam planned for the Xingu River, but a smaller dam being built on the Aripuanã river in the state of Mato Grosso. The issue highlights the heightened tensions between indigenous people in the Amazon and those who seek to exploit the area’s natural resources.
1% For The Planet (1% FTP) is a corporate philanthropy network co-founded by Yvon Chouinard, of Patagonia, and Craig Mathews, owner of Blue Ribbon Flies. The goal of the 1% FTP is to support environmental nonprofits through corporate giving, with each member organization pledging 1% of its annual profits. The network now has over 1,200 members and its model was praised by Fast Company as the "philanthropic gold standard."
Take a look at the video and tell us what you think in the comments section below. What if all corporations donated 1% of their profits to environmental causes? Should an environment tax such as this be mandatory? How much is the planet worth? Is one percent enough?
The most comprehensive guidelines for large dams that protect the rights of river-dependent communities were outlined by the World Commission on Dams (WCD) report in 2000. When it was published, dam-affected communities and their allies worldwide celebrated its recommendations, which charted a better way forward for dam-building and community-centered development.
Last week ANEEL released the final list of 18 companies participating in the Belo Monte consortium. Everyone expected some big name investors to carry the USD$17 billion project.
How about Vale, the world's largest mining company? Vale controls Carajás, the largest iron mine in the world, and is one of the largest energy consumers in Brazil. What about Alcoa, the darling of the United States metals companies? Alcoa has sought to expand its Brazilian bauxite and alumina production after large drops in market share over the past few years. How about Odebrecht, the global construction firm that has faced dozens upon dozens of lawsuits in Brazil? Odebrecht practically wrote the book on Belo Monte, after all, by writing the dam's environmental impact assessment with Eletrobras.
The number of projects that entered the CDM pipeline increased in the first two quarters of 2010 (See Fig. 1).
The percent of registered projects that were involved in the review process (which includes projects that require corrections) has been growing over the years (see Fig. 4): 9.5% in 2005, 9.1% in 2006, 19.3% in 2007, 56.9% in 2008, 70.4% in 2009, 53.7% in 2010 (as of July 1, 2010).
50% of all hydro projects in the CDM pipeline have requested registration since 2004, while 44% of all hydro projects have actually been registered. Figs. 3 and 4 show the fate of projects requesting registration and being registered by year.
Hydro projects continue to be the most prevalent type of project in the CDM pipeline (28% of all projects). 63% of credits expected from hydro projects come from China
Este post foi escrito pela Estagiária do Programa da Amazônia Lilian Alves e pelo Diretor do Programa da Amazônia Brent Millikan.
Dam burst on Mundaú River, Rio Largo town, in the state of Alagoas (Leo Caldas/Revista Veja)
O Nordeste do Brasil é conhecido por seus periódicos episódios de seca, que assolam uma população que já sofre com pobreza extrema, especialmente na região do sertão. No entanto, em junho, o Nordeste brasileiro foi atingido por enchentes arrasadoras, deixando mais de 50 vítimas fatais e uma estimativa de 150,000 desabrigados. O centro da tragédia tem sido as bacias dos rios Mundaú e Paraíba nos estados do Alagoas e Pernambuco, onde uma inesperada enchente descomunal, comparada a um tsunami por pessoas da região, devastou cidades, fazendas, pontes e até fábricas. Na cidade de Branquinha, AL, estima-se que 80% das residências foram destruídas.
This is a guest blog by Amazon Program Intern Lilian Alves and Amazon Program Director Brent Millikan.
Dam burst on Mundaú River, Rio Largo town, in the state of Alagoas (Leo Caldas/Revista Veja)
The Northeast of Brazil is well-known for its periodic episodes of severe drought that cause particular hardship for those already suffering from extreme poverty, especially in the region's backlands (sertão). Last month, however, the Northeast was hit by devastating floods, where over fifty people were killed and an estimated 150,000 were left homeless. The center of the tragedy has been the Mundaú and Paraíba river basins in the states of Alagoas and Pernambuco, where sudden massive flooding, likened by local observers to a tsunami, devastated towns, farms, bridges and even factories. In the town of Branquinha (Alagoas), an estimated 80% of residential housing was destroyed.
Protestors in Altamira, Pará (Movimento Xingu Vivo para Sempre)
A politician will say anything to support his party in an election year. That's why in his scripted blame of opposition to Belo Monte, Lula continually reverts to the same character: the green gringo, whose eco-fetish impedes Brazil's development.
But a delusional person will do anything to sustain his own version of reality. This is why, behind the scenes of his latest media rant, a strong military presence physically intimated 400 riverine, indigenous, and urban protestors from the Xingu region that sought to debate with Lula during his visit to the city of Altamira, Pará.
Annual capacity additions of dam-based hydro and new renewables
I just blogged on the Huffington Post about how the global wind power industry is blowing big hydro right out of the water in terms of how many turbines it is installing every year.
In 2002, new installations of wind power worldwide exceeded the capacity of new big hydro for the first time ever. Wind power engineers installed more megawatts than their big hydro competitors three times over the following six years. [While no hydro data are yet available for 2009] data on trends in new big hydro capacity from the last decade suggests that 2009 wind installations were likely at least a quarter more than big hydro -- and that the dammers will never again get close to wind power's annual additions.
Caterina (CRBM) and Joshua (FoLT) crossing Lake Turkana
(Campaign to Reform the World Bank) and Joshua Angelei (Friends of Lake Turkana) to meet those whose lives would be devastated by the impact of Gibe 3 Dam on Lake Turkana. As our plane descended into Lodwar, Lake Turkana’s biggest town, the landscape was irregularly green – rain had broken the area’s three year drought. But the rains which caused celebrations amongst the communities are increasingly an exception, no longer the historic, seasonal rule. We also found that the rain's respite had not calmed the people’s opposition to Gibe 3 Dam.
