FAIR TRADE OR NOT?
The findings of this first-ever study showed that the majority of tropical countries incur huge net economic losses amounting to US$1.7 trillion each year. Topping the list are countries such as Brazil, Thailand, India, Vietnam and Indonesia, where large areas of land are used for producing timber, crops and livestock for export.
NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE
International trade damages tropical nature: NUS study
Countries in the tropics are among the largest global exporters of key agricultural commodities such as oil palm, rice, soybean, sugarcane and cassava. They also represent the main source of new land for agriculture at the expense of forests. While international trade may generate economic benefits to the exporting countries, a recent study by researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) revealed that benefits from trade are unable to compensate for the loss of forests and ecosystems in those countries.
By quantifying the impact of international trade on ecosystem services, the research team, led by Assistant Professor Roman Carrasco from the Department of Biological Sciences at the NUS Faculty of Science, showed that tropical countries are severely underpricing the agricultural commodities they produce, and thus effectively subisidising consumption by importing countries. The results can be used to support agricultural export and land-use policies in tropical countries.
The findings were first published online in the journal Ambio on 9 March 2016.
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United Airlines is flying on biofuels.
25 Companies Are More Powerful Than Many Countries
Going stateless to maximize profits, metanationals are vying with governments for global power. In 2001 they were an emerging phenomenon, a divergence from the tradition of corporations taking pride in their national roots. Today, severing state lifelines has become normal business.
Why we Should Fear a Cashless World
Poor people and small businesses rely on cash. A contactless system will likely entrench poverty and pave the way for terrifying levels of surveillance
The health food chain Tossed has just opened the UK’s first cashless cafe. It’s another step towards the death of cash.
This is nothing new. Money is tech. The casting of coins made shells, whales’ teeth and other such primitive forms of money redundant. The printing press did the same for precious metals: we started using paper notes instead. Electronic banking put paid to the cheque. Contactless payment is now doing the same to cash, which is becoming less and less convenient. In the marketplace convenience usually wins.
That’s fine as long as people are making this choice freely. What concerns me is the unofficial war on cash that is going on, from the suspicion with which you are treated if you ever use large sums of cash to the campaign in Europe to decommission the €500 note. I’m not sure the consequences have been properly considered.
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