Sustainable Markets

Peru has made its comprehensive deforestation data available to the public. That data shows that while more than 100,000 hectares have been cleared in the Peruvian Amazon on annual basis since 2005, the rate of clearing has slowed in recent years.

Markets can only be a part of the solution to reversing unacceptable levels of deforestation and forest degradation, according to research from the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF). “Looking at the whole system and all available options remains the only guarantee, and this means taking a landscape perspective,” according to Dr Ravi Prabhu, Director of Research at ICRAF.

In Para, Brazil, farmers are turning a profit and the government is on track to slow deforestation thanks to local nonprofit Imazon, which got them to work together.

New report focuses on breaking the link between commodities and climate change. Including specific recommendations for Congress and the Obama administration to strengthen global demand for deforestation-free commodities, increase global supply of deforestation-free commodities and create greater transparency in global commodity trade.

The idea of slapping a price on carbon to reduce emissions and tackle global warming is moribund in Congress for now. But that’s not the case elsewhere in the world. A big new World Bank report (pdf) finds that more than 40 national governments and 20 sub-national governments have either put in place carbon-pricing schemes or are planning one for the years ahead. That includes either carbon taxes or some form of cap-and-trade.

After nearly a decade of steady decline, forest cutting has spiked again in the world’s largest rainforest. The nonprofit Amazon watchdog organization, Imazon, released a study reporting that deforestation at the hands of farmers and ranchers jumped 90 percent in the 12 months since April of last year. And since burning always follows felling, another 88 million tons of carbon dioxide and other gases hit the atmosphere—a 62 percent increase on the year.

The High Level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda today released their report that outlines their recommendations for the next set of Post 2015 Development Goals. Report aims to build on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) with a view to ending poverty.

Over the last six months, the PBS NewsHour's Agents for Change series has profiled the work of highly motivated social entrepreneurs, under the age of 40, who are starting to make their mark on the world. When confronted with entrenched social challenges like poverty, food insecurity and unemployment, these individuals decided to do something. Their passions and pursuits are diverse, but they all worked to help communities solve problems, build businesses and create jobs.

The first indigenous sacred site set aside under a new category of protected area in Colombia has been established in the northeastern part of the South American country. The development is significant because it could spur other indigenous sacred sites in Colombia to be granted protected status.