Here we go again… BBC / Global food prices at ‘record high’, says UN / World food prices at fresh high, says UN. [2:20] “The price of rice – critical for many developing countries – is more stable. One reason, perhaps, why food protests have not been repeated.” “Rising food prices will have an effect…
Polly Higgins: Ban ‘ecocide’ – crimes against nature and peace
Catching up on emails marked ‘to do’ today I realized I really needed to take a look at the work of one Polly Higgins, barrister, author and activist. Just peek at her website: THIS IS ECOCIDE. Looks like I have another book to read but for now here’s (some of?) her YouTube videos: Polly Higgins…
Read “Crude World” by Peter Maass
News about the oil business, campaigns against it’s foul play, news about pollution incidents, academic studies dealing with the many implications of the importance of oil and similar reports are not infrequent. Quite a few entries at this present blog deals with oil. But how about a first hand account of visits to the oil…
Mexicans march in support of drug cartel
Perhaps you thought the year 2029 scenario mentioned in my summary of Gwynne Dyer’s Climate Wars was a bit far fetched? Granted, Mexican states being ruled by warlords is a bit imaginative. So is reality. Read Narco Blog / Mexicans March in Support of “ La Familia” Drug Cartel: In an unprecedented event, on Sunday…
Ecowar – The Movie
A compilation of video clips from three years of blogging about the links between natural resources and conflict. Watch environmentalists get beaten up, wars for oil, repression for diamond profits, over-consumption and pollution causing natural disasters and more. Contains raw footage from French Greenpeace, Palestinian farmers and Australian tree huggers. Contains two short clips from…
“Climate Wars” by Gwynne Dyer (a review / rip-off)
With a title like Climate Wars this book looks “alarmist” even to someone sick and tired of being called just that. But actually, it is far less dramatic than the action paced science fiction that may come to mind. Written by a veteran soldier with academic degrees in military history and years of experience in…
It is that time of the year when…
…some group, country or person cease the opportunity to call for stronger environmental protection during conflict. This year Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad suggest the UN adopt a convention to ban destruction of forests or pollution to reduce the pressure on the environment and natural resources. The occasion is, of course, International Day for Preventing the…
What does climate change have to do with conflict?
Rebecca Sargent at a piece of conflict has been reading CLIMATE CHANGE, CONFLICT AND FRAGILITY – Understanding the linkages, shaping effective responses, a report by Dan Smith and Janani Vivekananda of International Alert. (It’s from November 2009 and a copy of it has been waiting on my hard disk for me to read it for…
The Yes Men adbusts Chevron greenwash
A day-long comedy of errors began when the Yes Men, supported by Rainforest Action Network and Amazon Watch, pre-empted Chevron’s enormous new “We Agree” ad campaign with a satirical version of their own. The activists’ version highlights Chevron’s environmental and social abuses – the same abuses they say Chevron is attempting to “greenwash.” From the…
Water wars!… or climate peace?
Two climate change stories: one driving African tribes into new conflict and another leading old foes on a shared diplomatic course. The conflict For thousands of years, nomadic herdsmen have roamed the harsh, semi-arid lowlands that stretch across 80 percent of Kenya and 60 percent of Ethiopia. […] As temperatures in the region have risen…
“Rebel access to [natural] resources crucially shapes armed civil conflict”
How does rebel access to natural resources affect conflict? “How“. Not “if“. That is the question investigated by Päivi Lujala of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, recently published in the Journal of Peace Research. Or rather: Where previous research has either suggested a link or sought to explain it by an indirect effect…
How many people can live on Planet Earth? Watch this BBC documentary!
Whether you’re discussing water resources, food security, climate change, migration, developing countries or pretty much any geopolitical or human ecological topic there is one other topic often avoided: Overpopulation. Watch this 58 minute BBC documentary on YouTube. Regarding “Ecowar relevance” the following parts are especially interesting. 14 min: Value of ecosystem services Doug Hamilton, International…