News Archive

18/06/2010 11:45
New projects reopen debate on the sustainability of palm oil in the Brazilian Amazon
With an eye on the increase in production of biodiesel derived from palm oil, the government has publish zoning laws and announced new means of controlling the social and environmental impacts. In the meantime, relatede projects are currently being implemented and presenting problems.

19/05/2010 12:31
Clean Development Mechanism 'endorses' expansion of sugarcane
Most of the 'carbon market projects' in Brazil are initiatives of cogeneration power in sugarcane mills, which reinforces the need for debate on the sustainability of the production model.

14/04/2010 18:16
New report on the impacts of sugarcane is now available in English
Important initiatives in 2009, such as sugarcane zoning and the labour commitment signed by companies, still depend on a series of proceedings to be enforced.

18/03/2010 13:43
Cosan damaged the public image of the companies in 2009, but was not the only
This article, from the report ´Brazil of Biofuels - Cana 2009´, recently released by the NGO Reporter Brazil, analyzes the labor violations found in Brazilian plants last year.

18/03/2010 13:30
Brazil exports ethanol production model to poor countries
The aim is to consolidate the main Brazilian biofuel as a commodity. With knowledge transfer and direct investments, potential impacts on workers, traditional communities and the environment also follow.

07/12/2009 17:57
Repórter Brasil launch a report explaining connections between animal fat and biodiesel
The new report also brings analysis on impacts caused by expansion of palm oil, cotton, jatropha, sunflower and rapeseed in Brazil.

02/09/2009 12:01
Rondônia’s cattle industry marked by scandals and propaganda
In the middle of the storm: biodiesel made in rondônia has animal fat as its main raw material

02/09/2009 11:53
Brazil´s Biofuels Take Centre Stage in Climate Change Debate
In order to increase exports of ethanol from sugarcane and biodiesel, Brazil’s processing companies need to prove to the US and Europe the environmental and social benefits of their production.

25/08/2009 20:33
Sugarcane cutters' union leader is attacked in São Paulo
Elio Neves, president of the São Paulo State Federation of Rural Waged Workers (FERAESP) and one of Brazil's main rural union leaders was shot by hooded gunmen when he was taking a few days off in Ribeirão Bonito (SP).

12/08/2009 17:39
Biodiesel processing plant in Mato Grosso uses poultry fat as raw material
Partnership involves BioPar Parecis and União Avícola Industrial, which have a contract to manage a Perdigão meat packing plant in Nova Marilândia until 2011 - 87 of the 110 poultry farming facilities in town do not meet Ministry of Agriculture requirements.

12/08/2009 16:43
Soybean producers in MT invest in sunflower and build seed crusher
The enterprise was firstly driven by optimistic projections for the biodiesel market. But the primary destination of the oil extracted at Parecis Alimentos, in Campo Novo do Parecis, is the food industry.

24/06/2009 14:50
Conflicting research on environmental advantages of ethanol from sugarcane
Amidst fierce international competition in bioenergy research, Fapesp and Unica undertake efforts to improve data on greenhouse gas emissions for ethanol produced in Brazil.

22/06/2009 15:41
Caught in the act using slave labour, former minister clashes with inspectors
A prominent figure among rural producers, Antonio Cabrera served as Brazil’s Minister of Agriculture during the Collor administration. Last April, labour inspectors found 184 slave labourers in his sugarcane farm, in Limeira do Oeste, Minas Gerais.

17/06/2009 20:30
Company caught in the act exploiting 174 does not take responsibility
According to information provided by the Brazil's Ministry of Labour and Employment (MTE), the property in West Bahia belongs to Rotavi Industrial Ltda., a company that used vegetal charcoal as its fuel to make light alloy products.

17/06/2009 20:24
Brazilian Government prepares protocol; according to the companies, food is expensive
Until now, the end of middlemen to hire labour is the core point of the commitment negotiated between employers and employees, with government's help. According to UNICA, the food system is expensive and logistics is complicated.

03/06/2009 18:45
Brenco resorted to middleman when planting sugarcane to produce ethanol
Copy of contract reveals formal agreement between sugar-alcohol industry and “João Paracatu”, known for recruiting labour under poor conditions in Goiás. The payment to the “gato” (Portuguese for cat, that sort of middleman) included 10% of the productivity of workers “recruited”.

03/06/2009 17:01
RTRS conditions deforesting on biodiversity map
The principles and criteria approved in the last assembly of the Round Table on responsible Soybean will be tested in the next 12 months, with voluntary monitoring. APROSOJA left the effort, disappointed with environmental commitments.

03/06/2009 15:57
Recommendations
This article is part of the report “Brazil of Biofuels – Soybean and Castor Bean - 2009”, pages

03/06/2009 15:47
The Paresi people: Mato Grosso’s soybean farming Indians
This article is part of the report “Brazil of Biofuels – Soybean and Castor Bean - 2009”, pages 35-37

03/06/2009 15:36
Impacts on Indigenous people
This article is part of the report “Brazil of Biofuels – Soybean and Castor Bean - 2009”, pages 32-35

03/06/2009 15:29
Survivors of massacre build alternatives in Corumbiara
This article is part of the report “Brazil of Biofuels – Soybean and Castor Bean - 2009”, pages 30-31

03/06/2009 15:11
Soybean farmer place Goiás' Emas Park under threat
This article is part of the report “Brazil of Biofuels – Soybean and Castor Bean - 2009”, pages 22-23

03/06/2009 14:49
Land-related impacts
This article is part of the report “Brazil of Biofuels – Soybean and Castor Bean - 2009”, pages 24-29

03/06/2009 13:09
Environment Impacts
This article is part of the report “Brazil of Biofuels – Soybean and Castor Bean - 2009”, pages 16-21

02/06/2009 18:17
Family-based agriculture in Southern Brazil
This article is part of the report “Brazil of Biofuels – Soybean and Castor Bean - 2009”, page 15