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The Generator news service publishes articles on sustainable development, agriculture and energy as well as observations on current affairs. The news service is used on the weekly radio show, The Generator, as well as by a number of monthly and quarterly magazines. A podcast of the Generator news is also available.
As well as Giovanni’s articles it picks up the most pertinent articles from a range of other news services. You can publish the news feed on your website using RSS, free of charge.
 

  • Friends of the Earth withdraws from Forest Stewardship Council

    Friends of the Earth (FoE) is the first major international NGO to confirm they no longer support Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification, which falsely suggests primary and old-growth forest logging is desirable and even sustainable, and that plantations are forests. This is a major victory for those including Ecological Internet (EI) and FSC-Watch[1] who have courageously taken on large environmental interests using FSC to greenwash ancient forest destruction.

    FoE pioneered timber certification during the 1980s and was one of FSC’s founders, but FoE International in Amsterdam has confirmed that it is now “reviewing” its membership of the organization. FoE UK announced on their website[2] they are “deeply concerned by the number of FSC certifications that are now sparking controversy and threatening the credibility of the scheme. We cannot support a scheme that fails to guarantee high environmental and social standards. As a result we can no longer recommend the FSC standard.”

    “FoE is to be commended for their courage in admitting all forest certification schemes including FSC are failing forests, climate and peoples globally. FSC plantation and ancient forest logging standards have been shown to be a fraud — business as usual forest destruction. We welcome reports that other European NGOs may follow FoE’s lead, and demand that Rainforest Action Network, Greenpeace and WWF stop their stonewalling and follow suit, or face escalating disruptive protests” warns Dr. Glen Barry, Ecological Internet’s President. “Then together as one we can work to end ancient forest logging.”

    EI has long sought protection for all the Earth’s remaining primary and old-growth forests. These efforts were stymied by large environmental bureaucracies falsely suggesting cutting carbon and species rich, centuries old trees is an environmental good. It became obvious the world’s forests could only be protected, and global ecological sustainability achieved, if groups supporting FSC were confronted. Our protest campaign launched last year, assisted by recent overwhelming ecological science showing old-growth forests continue to store and remove carbon and are essential to fighting climate change[3]

  • Emissions rising faster than ever

    By David Fogarty – Reuters

    SINGAPORE, Sept 25 – Global carbon emissions rose rapidly in 2007, an annual study says, with developing nations such as China and India now producing more than half of mankind’s output of carbon dioxide, the main gas blamed for global warming.

    The Global Carbon Project said in its report carbon dioxide emissions from mankind are growing about four times faster since 2000 than during the 1990s, despite efforts by a number of nations to rein in emissions under the Kyoto Protocol.

    Emissions from burning fossil fuels was a major contributor to the increase, the authors said in their “Global Carbon Project (2008) Carbon budget and trends 2007” report (http://www.globalcarbonproject.org/carbontrends/index_new.htm).

    India would soon overtake Russia to become the world’s third largest CO2 emitter, it says.

    “What we are talking about now for the first time is that the absolute value of all emissions going into the atmosphere every year are bigger coming from less developing countries than the developed world,” said the project’s Australia-based executive director Pep Canadell.

    “The other thing we confirm is that China is indeed now the top emitter,” he told Reuters, adding that China alone accounted for 60 percent of all growth in emissions. The United States was the second largest emitter.

    The project is supported by the International Council for Science, the umbrella body for all national academies of science.

    “DISASTROUS CONSEQUENCES”

    The rapid rise in emissions meant the world could warm faster than previously predicted, said professor Barry Brook, director of the Research Institute for Climate Change and Sustainability at the University of Adelaide in Australia.

    He said CO2 concentrations could hit 450 ppm by 2030 instead of 2040 as currently predicted. They are just above 380 ppm at present.

    “But whatever the specific date, 450 ppm CO2 commits us to 2 degrees Celsius global warming and all the disastrous consequences this sets in train.”

    The Global Carbon Project started in 2001 and examines changes in the earth’s total carbon cycle involving man-made and natural emissions and how carbon is absorbed through sinks, such as oceans and forests.

    Canadell says the project analyses data from CO2 samples taken around the globe and national emissions figures sent to the United Nations.

    He called the rapid rise in emissions between 2000 and 2007 and accumulation of the gas unprecedented, and pointed out that it occurred during a decade of intense international efforts to fight climate change.

    At present, the Kyoto Protocol, the main global treaty to tackle global warming, binds only 37 rich nations to emissions curbs from 2008.

    But Kyoto’s first phase ends in 2012 and the pact doesn’t commit developing nations to emissions caps. The United Nations is leading talks to expand Kyoto from 2013 and find a magic formula that brings on board all nations to commit to curbs on emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases.

    “WAKE-UP CALL”

    According to the report, atmospheric CO2 concentration rose to 383 parts per million in 2007, or 37 percent above the level at the start of the industrial revolution, and is the highest level during the past 650,000 years.

    It said the annual mean growth rate of atmospheric CO2 was 2.2 ppm per year in 2007, up from 1.8 ppm in 2006.

    “This latest information on rising carbon dioxide emissions is a big wake-up call to industry, business and politicians,” said professor Matthew England, joint director of the University of New South Wales Climate Change Research Centre.

    Canadell said the credit crisis would most likely trim emissions growth.

    “There is no doubt that the economic downturn will have an influence. But unless the big players, China, India, Russia and Japan, suffer as much as the United States is suffering, we’ll see a small decline only.”

    For further details in the report, see www.globalcarbonproject.com

  • Funny money affects grain too

    GREGOR HEARD,The Land

    The party may be over for high grain futures prices – due to the wider economic crisis, which may see some managed funds lessen their exposure to all markets, including the soft commodities market.

    ProFarmer managing director Richard Koch is warning farmers to brace themselves for the possibility of index funds to exit the sector.

    If this happens, it will have a sharp, negative impact on the grains sector, in spite of the solid fundamentals surrounding the industry.

    “Should the current uncertainty in global financial markets lead to a sharp and significant redemption of investments from Index funds, commodity markets will be unable to escape being caught in the net of the financial market crisis,” he said.

    It could have a monster impact on commodities such as wheat.

    The large capital inflow through the latter half of 2007 and early 2008 is notable.

    It coincided with a large rise in CBOT wheat futures; however, since March, the Index fund position has fallen back to levels more akin to those of 2006 and 2007 and the wheat price has

    contracted.

    “The major concern is that Index funds still hold some 47pc of all open interest in wheat.

    “Should the Index funds decide to exit their positions en masse, wheat futures would take an enormous tumble,” says Mr Koch.

    However, Mr Koch said this was not a fait accompli, and that if the wider market stabilised, the impact on grain futures would be minimised.

    The extent of the exposure to the market crisis is tied up to the large scale investment in soft commodities by the index funds over the past four years.

    Mr Koch estimated US$200-250b flowed into commodities from these index funds alone, in that time.

    This investment has been responsible for inflating the furious growth in grain futures to previously unimaginable levels – but the industry will be anxiously watching to see whether a large scale exit from fund positions will see an equally dramatic drop.

    He said the panic surrounding the collapse of major US investment banks such as Lehman Brothers has seen money now flowing out of the index funds, and therefore out of grain futures, as many of the big gains of the past few years have been turned into large losses in the past few months.

    The big question for the grains industry now is what will happen on global financial markets generally, over the coming months – as the index fund makes up a large part of the liquidity of the major grain trading exchanges.

    A recent US Commodities Futures Trading Commission report pegged the notional value of Index fund trading at US$146b by the end of December 2007 and as high as US$200b by end of June 2008.

    Mr Koch said this significant inflow through the first part of 2008 was a major reason for the jump in commodity prices.

    All of this more recent investment – since the start of 2008 (estimated at some US$54b)– is facing a negative return.

    He said the big concern here is that with the rising cost of credit and more cautious lending profiles, index funds may redeem portions of their investments, both as risk management and to raise liquidity.

    ““There will be investors in index funds who may be forced to redeem their investments in order to shore-up their liquidity positions,” explained Mr Koch.

    “The costs of funds when borrowing is now extremely high in some markets and liquidating assets may be the preferred alternative,” Mr Koch said.

  • 90 percent want GM labelling

    Michelle Sheather, Greenpeace genetic engineering campaigner said “it is very clear that Australians want to avoid GM food and want it clearly labelled. However, glaring loopholes in our current labelling laws do not leave shoppers with a choice”
    Current laws exempt oils and products from animals fed GM feed from being labelled. GM canola is now being grown in Victoria and New South Wales for the first time in Australia and will slip into the food chain unlabelled through canola oil which is used in a wide range of products and as animal feed.
    Michael Moore, CEO of Public Health Association of Australia said “It is really difficult to understand why there has been resistance to labelling of all genetically modified food.  It is appropriate for individuals to be able to make their own decisions about what they wish to consume. This is why labelling is a key element of any sensible policy on such foods”
    Michelle added “NSW and Victoria are not using adequate procedures to segregate the GE canola from the conventional crop. This leaves food and feed companies as much in the dark as consumers”.
    Don Lazzaro, CEO of Pure Harvest, one of Australia’s largest manufacturers and distributors of natural and organic food said “In response to consumer demand, labelling laws in Europe now require even highly processed GM ingredients like canola oil, and animal feed to be labelled. This shows that better labelling is practical and cost effective and most importantly, it gives consumers the information they need to make an informed choice.”
    Health experts and concerned groups have joined Greenpeace in launching a national petition demanding the comprehensive labelling and stringent safety testing of GM food.
     
    The full Newspoll survey and summary can be found at:
    http://www.greenpeace.org/australia/resources/reports/GE/rpt-gmpoll-190908
    The petition: GM food: Our right to know” can be viewed at: http://www.truefood.org.au/OurRightToKnow/
    So far 20 organisations including the Public Health Association of Australia, the Australian Conservation Foundation, the Wilderness Society and the State Conservation Councils have endorsed the petition.

  • Scientists announce super food quest

    From the CSIRO
    A team of Australian scientists has joined forces in a collaboration that will utilise state-of-the-art technology and materials science to determine the molecular structure of the protein components in some of our most common foods.

    This research will help food manufacturers understand the links between the nanostructure of foods containing protein and their associated physical and biochemical properties, thereby enabling them to predict and control the behaviour of raw materials and ingredients during food processing.

    The partnership brings together the food and materials science research capabilities of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), CSIRO’s Food Futures National Research Flagship, and The University of Queensland’s Centre for Nutrition and Food Sciences.

    A number of leading food companies including; Fonterra Dairy Co-operative Limited, George Weston Foods, Meat & Livestock Australia, Manildra Group and Dairy Innovation Australia, have also joined as commercial partners.

    Dubbed the ‘Protein Syndicate’, this consortium has commenced research projects that will provide Australian scientists and food manufacturers with the ability to design consumer-friendly foods with improved taste, texture and nutritional qualities.

    Research team leader with the Food Futures Flagship, Dr Ingrid Appelqvist, says the consortium aims to determine the behaviour of a range of food proteins and predict their response to formulation variables likely to be found in food manufacturing processes and products.

    “Over the next two years we’ll be investigating the molecular structure and functionality of a variety of food proteins with sources ranging from grains to dairy, meat and legumes,” she says. “Our ultimate goal is to design new, highly nutritious ingredients that can be dried and rehydrated without reducing their quality and functionality. There are a whole range of potential advantages to come from this research.”

    Food science project leader at ANSTO, Dr Elliot Gilbert, says his team will use neutrons produced by the OPAL reactor to take sophisticated measurements. “While using neutrons to study food may seem unusual, they have the unique ability to identify the location of different atomic or molecular components in food,” he says.

    “This will allow us to unlock the secrets of complex food structures, discover how these are altered by food processing and how modifications affect nutrition and long-term health. The work will be complemented with state-of-the-art X-ray scattering facilities.”

    The Director of the Centre for Nutrition and Food Sciences at The University of Queensland, Professor Mike Gidley, says the Centre will use nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and other techniques to identify the molecular basis for the materials and processing properties of proteins in the presence of limited water.

  • Farm power fronts BHP

    High on the list of concerns is the threat of long wall and open cut mining causing catastrophic damage to vital groundwater aquifers.

    Landholders reiterated their long-standing call for an independent study into the impact mining would have on the catchment and wider Murray-Darling Basin.

    Caroona Coal Action Group president, Spring Ridge farmer, Doug Ranken, led the call for an independent inquiry.

    Adding their support were federal Independent Member for New England, Tony Windsor, Greens MLC, Lee Rhiannon, Nationals MLC, Trevor Khan, and Constitutional Property Rights Association member, Bevan O’Regan, of Narrabri.

    Mr Windsor told the rally the mining industry didn’t want an independent study into the impact of mining on groundwater systems because it knew there was no guarantee there would be no long-term damage.

    “If you have a hydrological system and you cut across it, what impact does that have hundreds of kilometres away? We don’t know; there is nowhere in the world where that information is available.”

    Mr Windsor said the ground-swell of support for the landholders’ cause and the large turnout at the rally were a turning point in the debate.

    “I have absolutely no doubt you will win this based on the sustainability issue, the stupidity of trying to mine in these sorts of systems and the impact it will have on the whole Murray-Darling Basin,” he said.