by Chee Yoke Ling After several years of scientific and public debates it is reported that China will not commercialise genetically modified (GM) staple food crops such as rice and wheat for the next 5 to 10 years. The widely read Economic Observer, a financial weekly publication, citing a source close to the Ministry of Agriculture [...]
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Members of an indigenous tribe in Borneo lost a case in Malaysia’s top court Thursday challenging the state’s seizure of land to build a massive dam. The verdict capped a decade-long legal struggle by a group of villagers who claim authorities in Malaysia’s eastern Sarawak state unlawfully wrested away land occupied by [...]
Just as the Gulf Coast of Mexico, off the coast of Louisiana, USA is grappling with a major oil spill from the BP operated offshore rig, the hard reality of an oil spill hit home in Singapore. Two oil tankers collided to spill 2,500 metric tons of crude oil in the Singapore Strait, 13 kms off the [...]
Greenpeace’s two month long campaign against the multinational food and consumer goods giant, Nestlé’s use of unsustainable palm oil sources has shown results. Nestlé announced in a press release that they will partnering with the non-profit organisation, The Forest Trust, to systematically identify and exclude companies owning or managing high risk plantations or farms linked to deforestation. According [...]
by Ria Tan The report card on global biodiversity is out. And the results are not good. But there is still hope. What is the Global Biodiversity Outlook? It is a report based on scientific assessments, national reports submitted by governments and a study on future scenarios for biodiversity. It is produced by the Convention [...]
In 2002, world leaders agreed to reduce the global rate of biodiversity loss by 2010. Sadly, a recent study found that “biodiversity is still being lost as fast as ever, and we have made little headway in reducing the pressures on species, habitats and ecosystems.” Published in the journal Science, the study confirms what conservationists [...]
In a new study released by Stanford University in April 2010, scientists have found evidence that links ocean acidification due to volcanic eruptions 250 million years ago, with the wiping out of 90% of marine species and 75% of land species. This event called the “end-Permian” extinction has conditions parallel to the combination of ocean acidification that [...]
