A scenario of sustained high oil prices can no longer be discarded. If the uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East continue to spread to other countries over the next months, it is quite likely that oil prices will keep high, and may even reach new record heights. Not an unlikely development, particularly if protesters in Libya succeed in overthrowing Gaddafi. But instability will hardly stop with the overthrow of dictatorial rulers. Governance-building is a long process, with likely surges of instability. Attending the demands for jobs and income will not be easy. The global economy has not fully recovered yet, and the region’s troubled local economies need sweeping reforms before they can yield satisfactory results. Frustration of demands can refuel discontent and lead to new waves of instability. More »
Sergio Abranches
Brazil has been championing biofuels and “flex fuel” engines for some time and for good reasons. Flex fuel engines run on any possible combination of ethanol and gasoline. Since all gasoline in Brazil has 25% of ethanol, flex fuel engines can run on any mix of ethanol and gasoline, beginning at 25% to 75%, up to 100% ethanol. More »
Sergio Abranches
Climate-related risks and greening the supply-chain are common features of most presentations about sustainability and corporate social responsibility. Sometimes they are presented as “trends” or future threats. But they are not something that will happen in the future. They are already part of the daily affairs of most companies. And they are inseparable from each other. More »
After approving the climate change law the Brazilian government now has yet to approve the rules that will allow its enactment.
Sergio Abranches More »
Sergio Abranches
My computer screen showed climate militants marching and facing police blockades over the streets of Copenhagen and in the neighborhood of Bella Center. On the TV screens spread all over the crowded Media Center journalists could watch a plenary session of COP15, where government delegates discussed the most pressing global threat of the 21st Century. More »
Humans are today a major factor of global warming and climate change. Humans are also victims of radical environmental changes. Both statements are true and correlated. They mark the complex interactions between humans an the environment. The issue that most directly reflects these interactions is health.
Sergio Abranches More »
