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Biomass in a Low-Carbon Economy
The report argues that while biomass is essential for a low-carbon economy, it is a limited resource constrained by land, water, and the need for ecosystem functioning. Through four scenarios, the authors demonstrate that a 'Sustainability Transition'—combining aggressive climate policy with focused agricultural productivity improvements—is the most viable path to reducing emissions without excessively increasing the agricultural footprint. The analysis highlights that future yield gains must move beyond the 'Green Revolution' strategy of increasing harvest index (shifting biomass to grain) toward increasing total photosynthetic efficiency to provide enough raw material for both food and industrial bio-materials.
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Document type: Report
Chinese Banking Interests in Mozambique
The policy brief examines the activities of Chinese state-run banks (Exim Bank and CDB) and the private Luso-Chinese fund Geocapital in Mozambique. While these entities leverage strong political and personal connections to enter the market, they have struggled to attract significant Chinese capital due to poor strategic planning and a lack of institutional capacity within Mozambique. The document highlights specific infrastructure loans and the establishment of Moza Banco, while noting that many large-scale projects have either collapsed or failed to materialize.
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Document type: Policy brief
Understanding China’s Agricultural Investments in Africa
China has significantly increased and diversified its agricultural investments in Africa since 2000, driven by domestic food security concerns, market demand for commodities and biofuels, and a strategic 'going out' policy. These investments manifest as foreign direct investment (FDI), aid projects, infrastructure development, and technology transfer. While China's own success in poverty reduction through agricultural reform offers potential lessons, the paper notes that the effectiveness of these investments in Africa depends on local institutional environments and the adaptation of technology to specific African conditions.
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Document type: Research paper
Energy-Water-Climate Planning for Development Without Carbon in Latin America and the Caribbean
The report examines the role of hydropower in Latin America and the Caribbean's transition to low-carbon development. While the region relies heavily on hydropower—supplying 46% of its electricity—climate change poses risks through glacier retreat and precipitation variability. The authors advocate for integrated planning using the WEAP and LEAP tools to manage the water-energy nexus and navigate tradeoffs between hydropower, biofuels, and other water demands.
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Document type: Report
Landuse change, biofuels and rural development in the La Plata Basin
The provided text is a publication list for a project titled 'Landuse change, biofuels and rural development in the La Plata Basin'. It enumerates various academic papers, theses, and reports published between 2006 and 2011. The listed works focus on ecohydrology, satellite monitoring of land use, the environmental and social impacts of biofuels in South America, and the ecological footprint of agricultural expansion, particularly in Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay.
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Document type: Fact sheet
Making Investment Work for Africa: A parliamentarian response to “land grabs”
The report examines the surge of foreign direct investment in African farmland and water, often termed "land grabs," and its negative impacts on local communities, human rights, and food security. It identifies three main types of investors: food-insecure states, western agribusinesses, and financial sector actors. The document highlights systemic failures, including lack of transparency, weak land tenure laws, and the marginalization of women. It proposes a role for parliamentarians as watchdogs and legislators to ensure free, prior and informed consent and transparency. Key recommendations include land tenure reform, the potential for a moratorium on large-scale land acquisitions, and the adoption of inclusive business models to align investment with national development strategies and the Maputo Declaration.
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Document type: Report
Logrando que las inversiones trabajen para África: Una Respuesta Parlamentaria al “Acaparamiento de Tierras”
The document details the consequences of a surge in foreign land acquisitions in Africa, driven by global food and energy demands. It highlights the erosion of local land rights, lack of transparency in contracts, and the marginalization of women. It proposes a parliamentary roadmap including land reform, mandatory community consent, and a potential moratorium on large-scale land acquisitions to ensure investments benefit local populations.
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Document type: Report
Comment investir efficacement en Afrique: Réponse parlementaire à « l’accaparement des terres »
The document analyzes the surge of foreign direct investment in African farmland and water, often termed 'land grabbing', highlighting the systemic lack of transparency and the violation of local land rights. It identifies three types of investors—food-insecure states, agribusinesses, and financial speculators—and examines the legal frameworks that often prioritize investor protections over community rights. The report advocates for a parliamentary role in ensuring social inclusion, promoting inclusive business models, and implementing the Maputo Declaration's agricultural goals. It concludes with a draft resolution calling for a moratorium on large-scale land acquisitions until a proper governance framework is established.
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Document type: Report
Viabilização do Investimento em África: Uma Resposta parlamentar à desapropriação de terras
The document details the outcomes of a July 2011 seminar on foreign investment in African arable land and water. It identifies the drivers of 'land grabbing'—including biofuel demand and food insecurity in Gulf and Asian states—and analyzes the negative impacts on rural populations, particularly women. The report highlights a systemic lack of transparency in investment contracts and the weakness of national land laws, which often allow governments to allocate land despite existing community use. It proposes a parliamentary roadmap focusing on legislative oversight, the requirement of free, prior, and informed consent, and the potential for a moratorium on large-scale land acquisitions until robust governance frameworks are established.
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Document type: Report
Kufanya Uwekezaji kuwa wa Manufaa kwa Afrika: Jibu la Mbunge kuhusu “Unyakuzi wa Ardhi”
The document details the outcomes of a July 2011 seminar on 'land grabs' in Africa, highlighting how large-scale foreign investments often undermine local land rights, water access, and gender equality. It argues that current investment models frequently lack transparency and fail to deliver promised socio-economic benefits. The report calls for a temporary moratorium on large-scale land acquisitions, the adoption of the Maputo Declaration's 10% budget allocation for agriculture, and a stronger role for parliamentarians in overseeing contracts and protecting community rights.
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Document type: Report
Subsidies to Liquid Transport Fuels: A comparative review of estimates
The document identifies a significant lack of consistent data and information regarding subsidies for both biofuels and conventional transport fuels. It argues that current global estimates are limited and emphasizes the necessity of robust national-level estimates to enable further evaluation of these subsidies.
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Document type: Report
Making Investment Work for Africa: What role for parliamentarians?
The document analyzes the surge of foreign investment in African agricultural land and water, driven by global food and biofuel demand. It highlights systemic issues including the neglect of existing land rights, lack of community consultation, and failure to conduct environmental impact assessments. The author argues that parliamentarians must actively oversee investment contracts and treaties to prevent the prioritization of investor interests over local food security and environmental protection.
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Document type: Briefing
Comment Investir Efficacement en Afrique?
The document examines the surge of foreign investment in African agricultural land and water, driven by demand for food and biofuels. It highlights systemic failures in governance, including the disregard for local land rights, lack of community consultation, and the absence of environmental impact assessments. It argues that the current legal landscape—dominated by investor-centric international treaties and contracts—often undermines local food security and environmental protection. The briefing urges parliamentarians to demand transparency, access to investment contracts, and a role in the ratification and monitoring of these deals to ensure sustainable development and the protection of vulnerable populations, particularly women.
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Document type: Briefing
Regional and Global Linkages in the Energy-Climate-Development Policy Nexus: The Case of Biofuels in the EU Renewable Energy Directive
The document examines the EU Renewable Energy Directive's biofuels components, finding that the design of sustainability criteria prioritizes internal EU market and technology goals over global energy markets and international development objectives.
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Document type: Research paper
Response to RADM Robert G. James (USNR Ret.)'s 2 August 2011 Wall Street Journal op-ed "Of Mustard Fuel and Marines"
Amory Lovins defends the U.S. military's adoption of renewable energy and biofuels against criticisms from RADM Robert G. James. Lovins asserts that reducing oil dependence is a strategic necessity to protect service members from convoy attacks and improve combat effectiveness. He clarifies that his research advocates for biofuels derived from waste and non-food crops rather than food crops, and highlights the development of ultra-efficient carbon-fiber vehicles as a means to reduce oil reliance.
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Document type: Statement
DoD’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Initiatives
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is implementing a wide range of energy efficiency and renewable energy strategies across the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force. These initiatives aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, lower long-term costs, and enhance mission effectiveness by decreasing dependence on liquid fossil fuels. Key goals include achieving 'net-zero' energy for numerous installations by 2020 and 2030, increasing the use of alternative fuel blends for aviation and naval vessels, and deploying diverse renewable technologies—such as solar, wind, geothermal, and biomass—at domestic and overseas bases. The DoD's efforts are guided by internal strategies, a 2010 Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Energy, and federal mandates including Executive Orders 13423 and 13514.
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Document type: Fact sheet
pour la terre qui nous nourrit
The document presents a collection of case studies from Friends of the Earth International member groups, highlighting the intrinsic link between biodiversity and food sovereignty. It examines the negative impacts of industrial monocultures, land grabbing, and genetic modification in countries such as Nigeria, Uganda, Indonesia, Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, the USA, Guatemala, and Switzerland. Each case study emphasizes the role of local and indigenous knowledge, the importance of seed saving, and the necessity of community-led land management to resist corporate-driven agricultural systems and environmental degradation.
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Document type: Report
mobiliser, resister, transformer international à 40 ans
The document outlines the 40-year history and strategic framework of Friends of the Earth International (FoEI), a global federation of 76 member groups. It argues that environmental destruction, poverty, and human rights violations are systemic issues rooted in a neoliberal economic model. FoEI's approach focuses on 'mobilizing, resisting, and transforming' through key concepts such as climate justice, ecological debt, and food sovereignty. The report details specific campaigns against extractive industries, GMOs, and deforestation, while highlighting the role of grassroots activism and international solidarity in achieving policy changes and protecting indigenous rights.
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Document type: Report
movilizar, resistir, transformar
Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) marks 40 years as a global federation of 76 member groups and over 2 million collaborators. The organization advocates for environmental and social justice by opposing neoliberal economic models and 'false solutions' to the climate crisis. Its strategic framework focuses on three pillars: mobilizing public support, resisting the root causes of environmental degradation, and transforming societies through concepts like ecological debt, food sovereignty, and climate justice. FoEI's work spans diverse sectors, including opposing industrial mining and fossil fuels, protecting biodiversity and forests, and promoting sustainable, local food systems.
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Document type: Report
Informe del Programa Científico
The report details the outcomes of the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) programs, specifically the Cooperative Research Networks (CRN II), Small Grants Program for Human Dimensions (SGP-HD), and an IDRC-funded project on the Río de la Plata basin. Key findings highlight the vulnerability of Andean cloud forests, the impact of land-use changes on hydrology in the Río de la Plata basin, and the increasing frequency of hurricanes in the Caribbean. The document emphasizes the 'value added' by integrating social and economic sciences (Human Dimensions) to bridge the gap between scientific research and policy implementation, citing specific influences on forest protection laws in Brazil and glacier protection legislation in Argentina.
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Document type: Report