e2 - Eye on Earth, a service of
World Watch Magazine in partnership with the
Blue Moon Fund, provides our community with a unique perspective on current events, newly released studies, and important global trends. This update service offers context to critical world events that are seemingly disparate yet often closely related, highlighting the connections between human consumption and the natural world, while telling the stories of individuals and organizations that are supporting new approaches to resource use, energy use and urban development. Eye on Earth presents the news of today with an eye towards tomorrow, illustrating how current events will shape our own future and that of generations to come.
In July, the government of Ethiopia signed an agreement allowing a British biotechnology firm to commercialize the oilseed plant vernonia as a renewable source of industrial chemicals.
On July 24, the Brazilian Association of Vegetable Oil Producers (ABIOVE) and the National Grains Exporters' Association (ANEC), an industry group representing the world’s leading soy exporters, agreed to a two-year moratorium on using soybeans from land that has been cleared for soy cultivation in the Amazon region.
Environmental groups are pushing for the use of market mechanisms to address one of the world’s largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions—deforestation.
In April, residents of the four states of South India bought an estimated 70,000 kilograms of gold on the holiday known as Akshaya Tritiya, a day when purchases of the metal—from coins to jewelry—are believed to bring families good fortune for the year.
Recent trends suggest that both corporations and investors are taking socially responsible investing (SRI) more seriously.
It is not a stretch to say that Russia’s inclusion in the Group of Eight industrialized nations (G-8) reflects in large measure that country’s role as a global energy supplier. The G-8, known as the G-7 until Russia’s induction in 1997, is an informal forum tasked with coordinating economic and social policy in the world’s wealthiest and most powerful nations.
Sony Picture’s new film,
Who Killed the Electric Car, details the birth, short life, and controversy over the demise of General Motors’ all-electric vehicle, the EV1.
At a July 27 event in Tokyo, GE Plastics unveiled two new plastic resins that it claims will significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions, post-consumer waste, and petroleum use. The company aims to use the resins, derived from used water bottles and other plastic waste streams, to produce new virgin-quality plastic materials.
The International Maritime Organization reported on August 2 that a massive combat-related oil spill in Lebanon has affected about one-third of that country’s coastline.
In a statement released July 25, ten climate experts called on the U.S. government and industry leaders to address the dangers associated with the rising concentration of people and development in hurricane-prone regions.
