When the HFC family of chemicals replaced CFCs in refrigeration to save the ozone layer, little did we know that they have a greater global warming effect than CO2.
Twenty years ago, the United Nations summit held in Rio de Janeiro paved the way for landmark agreements on the climate and the environment. This year's meeting, on the other hand, has been widely criticized for its lack of vision in the face of accelerating degradation of the planet.
As Rio+20 came to a close, civil society groups from across the globe were quick to condemn world leaders - particularly from rich countries - for failing to live up to their promises or offer new vision.
With the Rio+20 conference weeks away, the latest round of informal negotiations between governments took place late last month.
Al Jazeera correspondent Gabriel Elizondo paints a shocking portrait of life in the Brazilian Amazon, where at least 212 environmental activists have been murdered since 1996 ' an average of 12 a year.
A community of Guarani Indians in Brazil has retaken part of its ancestral land in an act of desperation, having lived by the side of a highway for a year and a half.
This positive decision came after a report by Greenpeace, which indicated that funds from the international Finance Corporation (IFC), the private lending arm of the World Bank, were contributing to one of the biggest causes of climate change by enabling Bertin to further expand into the Amazon region. The bank withdrew a USD 90 million loan.
Since 2004, the Responsible Soy project has successfully promoted responsible soy production in the Santarem area in the Brazilian state of Pará, where Cargill has a soy terminal, by helping soy farmers comply with the Brazilian Forest Code. The success of the collaboration between TNC and Cargill is evident from the reduction in illegal deforestation in the farms participating in the project since 2006, reaching near zero deforestation in most farms.
Indians of the Guarani tribe in Brazil have demanded that energy giant Shell stop using their ancestral land for ethanol production.
