Tecnopor es Cancerigeno y esta prohibido en varias ciudades del mundo

P1 - La otra ruta -La mujer que siembra - 19-06-2017

Organización ecológica asegura que un tercio de la comida termina en la basura

Berlín, ene. 21 (ANDINA). Una tercera parte de los alimentos va a parar a la basura, denunció hoy en Berlín, la organización ecologista World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF), según el informe presentado durante la celebración de la Semana Verde que se celebra la capital alemana.

El motivo es que no se transportan de forma racional, no se procesan a tiempo o no se enfrían de forma adecuada, refiere el documento, el cual es recogido en un despacho de la agencia de noticias DPA.

"Se estima que la agricultura aporta 4 mil 600 kilocalorías por persona y por día en todo el mundo. De ellas, 1 mil 400 kilocaorías no llegan jamás a un estómago", señaló el WWF.

El grupo reclamó por ello a los ministros de Agricultura una mejora en las estructuras de trabajo y procesamiento, así como una mayor educación sobre el tema a los consumidores de países industrializados.

(FIN) Agencias/JCC

Andina

NGOs take Commission to court over biofuels reports

Four environmental groups have sued the European Union's executive for withholding documents they say will add to a growing dossier of evidence that biofuels harm the environment and push up food prices.

The lawsuit, lodged with the EU's General Court, the bloc's second highest court, alleges several violations of European laws on transparency and democracy.

The suit was filed on 8 March by ClientEarth, Transport & Environment, the European Environmental Bureau and BirdLife International.

"That the Commission should choose to deny our rights on such a critical issue as the science underpinning our climate policies is astounding," said Tim Grabiel, staff attorney at ClientEarth.

At stake is the EU's commitment to its goal of getting a tenth of its road fuels from renewable sources such as biofuels by 2020 - a target that has spawned an EU industry worth around five billion euros ($6.8 billion) a year and a big market for imports from Brazil, Indonesia and Malaysia.

The four groups first sought access to the documents on 15 October 2009, and said the European Commission missed a legal deadline to release them under freedom of information laws on 9 February. Some reports have been released, but not all.

A similar request by Reuters has led to the release of 118 reports and e-mails, which reveal worries within the Commission that the EU set its 10% goal before fully assessing the impact of biofuel targets.

Making matters worse

Some of the documents raise the prospect of higher EU farm incomes, but cite concerns that plant-based biofuels could create food shortages for the world's poorest.

Others suggest biofuels can drive up demand for land, encouraging farmers in tropical areas to expand cropland into sensitive areas such as wetlands and rainforests - which would have a detrimental environmental impact.

Burning forests can release so much CO2 as to cancel out any benefits sought from the biofuels.

One leaked email says that taking account of biofuels' full carbon footprint could "kill" their role in the EU.

"Current EU biofuels policy guarantees that Europe will use lots of biofuels, but it doesn't guarantee reductions in greenhouse gas emissions - in fact it seems likely it will make things worse," said Nusa Urbancic of transport campaign group T&E.

"The first step to fixing this broken policy must be full transparency about what the true impacts are," she said.

The Commission was not immediately available to comment, but has previously said it is working very seriously to understand the indirect impacts of biofuels.

The case is not the Commission's only wrangle with environment groups over access to environmental documents.

The EU's own watchdog, Ombudsman P. Nikiforos Diamandouros, recently criticised the Commission for not releasing three letters that German car company Porsche had sent to former industry commissioner Guenther Verheugen.

The case originated with a complaint from Friends of the Earth Europe, which was trying to get hold of the documents as part of the debate over legislation to curb carbon emissions from cars.

EurActiv

UN agency calls for 'more responsible' livestock sector

Published: 19 February 2010

An increasingly competitive global livestock sector is threatening to put smallholders in poor countries out of business and poses a risk to the livelihoods and food security of a billion people, argues a new report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

The rapid and uncontrolled growth of the livestock sector "has given rise to systemic risks that may have catastrophic implications for livelihoods, human and animal health and the environment," concludes the report on 'The State of Food and Agriculture,' published yesterday (18 February).

"There has been a major transformation in the way the livestock sector is organised," said Terri Raney, editor of the FAO report. It has become increasingly commercialised and more integrated at all levels of the product chain, while growth in international trade has also been rapid, she added.

Food security

The report stresses that livestock is essential to the livelihoods of around one billion poor people.

Food security and livestock are linked in that livestock has a key role to play in providing cash income for poor people. They can sell eggs or milk, for example, allowing them to purchase other foods for the family, Raney explained.

But many smallholders are finding it a challenge to remain competitive in the face of larger, more intensive production systems, in which quality standards and timeliness of production have become very important criteria, the FAO warned.

The agency's director-general, Jacques Diouf, said efforts were needed to move towards a "more responsible livestock sector" which contributes fully to food security and poverty reduction.

Agenda for action

The agency is calling for an "agenda for action" to ensure better governance and a "more inclusive development process" for the sector.

It recommends that "smallholders should be supported in taking advantage of the opportunities provided by an expanding livestock sector and in managing the risks associated with increasing competition".

Furthermore, it believes that broader rural development strategies to create off-farm jobs should help those that may be unable to adapt and compete in this rapidly modernising sector.

EurActiv