Blog Posts
- Stolen Forests: The West African Precious Woods Crisis
Stolen Forests: The West African Precious Woods Crisis
The dry forests of West Africa – fragile transition ecosystems located between the Northern Sahelian desert and the South Central African tropical forests – are home to valuable...
- Schweighofer’s ongoing sourcing of illegal timber in Romania and Ukraine again revealed
Schweighofer’s ongoing sourcing of illegal timber in Romania and Ukraine again revealed
A new documentary video released yesterday by investigative journalist groups RISE and OCCRP once again names Austrian timber giant Holzindustrie Schweighofer as one of the largest buyers of illegal timber in Romania...
- Montreal Protocol Seeks Progress on Standards for HFC-free Technologies
Montreal Protocol Seeks Progress on Standards for HFC-free Technologies
Parties to the Montreal Protocol met last month in Vienna to negotiate a global phase down of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), super-greenhouse gases that are thousands...
- Keeping Campus Cool – Cornell’s Lake Source Cooling as a Climate-Friendly Model for Universities
Keeping Campus Cool – Cornell’s Lake Source Cooling as a Climate-Friendly Model for Universities
As countries negotiate a global phasedown of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) under the Montreal Protocol, institutions and companies are increasingly looking for climate-friendly cooling to aid global efforts to stay under the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C goal...
- The Biggest Climate Commitment after Paris Closer to Adoption in 2016
The Biggest Climate Commitment after Paris Closer to Adoption in 2016
The Paris climate agreement in December was a landmark deal agreed by all countries yet the national greenhouse gas targets countries have put forward are far from sufficient to limit warming to 1.5°C...
- Target Hits a Bullseye for Climate-Friendly Refrigeration in the U.S.
Target Hits a Bullseye for Climate-Friendly Refrigeration in the U.S.
American consumers looking to make sustainable choices with their grocery shopping dollars may want to consider a new commitment by Target...
- Who will pay for the illegal destruction of the Peruvian Amazon?
Who will pay for the illegal destruction of the Peruvian Amazon?
News broke recently in the Jakarta Post that two Peruvian oil palm plantations located in Peru’s Amazon region of Ucayali, Plantaciones de Pucallpa and Plantaciones de Ucayali, plan to sell land they control in the Peruvian Amazon...
- Peruvian Government to London Stock Exchange: Support our actions against United Cacao
Peruvian Government to London Stock Exchange: Support our actions against United Cacao
Today, May 24 2016, the national forestry authority in Peru (SERFOR) issued a public statement confirming the illegal operations of United Cacao’s subsidiary in the country, clarifying, once again that the company does not have the required environmental approval. Citing large scale illegal...
- Walking the Talk: U.S. Agencies Finalize Rule Limiting Procurement of High-GWP HFCs
Walking the Talk: U.S. Agencies Finalize Rule Limiting Procurement of High-GWP HFCs
A long-awaited new rule that limits government procurement of super greenhouse gases – HFCs – has been published and is a welcome step to strengthening U.S. federal leadership in transitioning to cooling options that don’t damage the climate.
- An End to Blood Wood: Musicians and Communities Fight Back
An End to Blood Wood: Musicians and Communities Fight Back
EIA’s new documentary, Instruments of Change: Lessons from the Rainforest, invites you to join Jesse Carmichael and James Valentine of Maroon 5 and Adam Gardner of Guster on their journey to the Guatemalan rainforest, where they learn about the...
- Postcard from London: Charting a Cleaner Course for the Arctic
Postcard from London: Charting a Cleaner Course for the Arctic
Earth Day is a chance to celebrate the wonder of the natural world, which on the surface makes it a little ironic that EIA’s Wildlife Team is sending this blog postcard from the back of a London conference room with no...
- Papering Over Illegalities: EIA assessment of new Holzindustrie Schweighofer report
Papering Over Illegalities: EIA assessment of new Holzindustrie Schweighofer report
On April 13th, 2016, the Austrian wood processor Holzindustrie Schweighofer (Schweighofer), released an evaluation of their due diligence system in Romania which the company had commissioned the forest...
- China’s Actions to Promote Low-GWP Alternatives: The 27th China Refrigeration Exhibition
China’s Actions to Promote Low-GWP Alternatives: The 27th China Refrigeration Exhibition
In its 13th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development, China announced to the world that green development will be high on its agenda for the next five years. The “green” concept was prominently discussed in the economic and social development section of the five-year plan...
- Visit Guatemala with Maroon 5 through Virtual Reality
Visit Guatemala with Maroon 5 through Virtual Reality
Last fall when I met with tech pros who boasted about the coming boom of virtual reality, or VR, I skeptically assumed it would be another piece of trendy, flashy technology, limited in its actual use and distribution. Fast forward a few months...
- Pathway to Adoption of an HFC Amendment: Resolving Key Challenges
Pathway to Adoption of an HFC Amendment: Resolving Key Challenges
Parties to the Montreal Protocol are meeting in Geneva this week to discuss the implementation of the Dubai Pathway on HFCs; HFCs are super greenhouse gases used in refrigeration and air-conditioning. Now those of you following...
- Holzindustrie Schweighofer’s breaks promise in Romania
Holzindustrie Schweighofer’s breaks promise in Romania
“It’s the last forest which has a high conservation value and [has] the capacity to sustain life of hundreds of species of flora and fauna,” said Gabriel Paun, founder of Agent Green, an environmental protection non-profit in Romania. He is referring...
- #InOurHands: Stopping the Ivory Trade to Save Elephants
#InOurHands: Stopping the Ivory Trade to Save Elephants
Today is World Wildlife Day, a time to celebrate as well as critically evaluate how well we are addressing the most pressing threats to wildlife, in particular wildlife trafficking. EIA has been working to put an end to the illegal...
- United Cacao-linked Companies Ordered to Stop Operations by Peruvian Authorities
United Cacao-linked Companies Ordered to Stop Operations by Peruvian Authorities
Three massive agri-business projects in the Peruvian Amazon, all related to the same group of companies identified in EIA’s 2015 report Deforestation by Definition, have been ordered to halt operations by government authorities in the country. Together, the projects being developed collectively by Cacao del Perú Norte...
- TV program reveals Holzindustrie Schweighofer’s involvement in illegal timber trade
TV program reveals Holzindustrie Schweighofer’s involvement in illegal timber trade
A video released by the Romanian investigative program In Premiera in November 2015, titled Timber Makes theWorld Go Round, has been rereleased this week with English subtitles. The video paints a vivid picture of illegalities at three stages…
- Alex Gavan speaks about Romanian Forests
Alex Gavan speaks about Romanian Forests
Romania is home to Europe’s last remaining old growth forests and some of the largest populations of brown bear, wolves, and lynx. However, the country’s forests are being ravaged...
- Time to Set Smarter Industry Standards for HFC-free Technologies
Time to Set Smarter Industry Standards for HFC-free Technologies
This is the third installment of the EIA Climate Campaign’s blog series on ‘Navigating the Path to Climate-Friendly Cooling.’ The series will focus on the key policy and technology issues...
- EPA Takes Aim at Leaking Super Greenhouse Gases
EPA Takes Aim at Leaking Super Greenhouse Gases
This is the second installment of the EIA Climate Campaign’s blog series on ‘Navigating the Path to Climate-Friendly Cooling.’ The series will focus on the key policy and technology issues related to mitigating hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)...
- January Marks New Low for Sea Ice and a Dangerous Future for Belugas
January Marks New Low for Sea Ice and a Dangerous Future for Belugas
By Dan Hubbell, EIA Wildlife Assistant Policy Analyst In the new Arctic Ocean, shattering records for low sea ice have become an almost annual occurrence, and January 2016 suggests this year will be no exception...
- Great Expectations for California to Tackle Super Greenhouse Gases
Great Expectations for California to Tackle Super Greenhouse Gases
This is the first installment of the EIA Climate Campaign’s blog series on ‘Navigating the Path to Climate-Friendly Cooling.’ The series will focus on the key policy and technology issues related to mitigating hydrofluorocarbons...
- Wake Up Call: Musicians of Maroon 5 & Guster Discover the Good & Bad of Wood Sourcing Options
Wake Up Call: Musicians of Maroon 5 & Guster Discover the Good & Bad of Wood Sourcing Options
Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve played host to world-renowned rockstars last December. James Valentine and Jesse Carmichael of Maroon 5 and Adam Gardner of Guster found themselves in the lush rainforests of Northern Guatemala to learn about illegal logging and sustainable community forestry. With many instruments...