Fossil fuel combustion and industrial processes release over six billion metric tons of carbon into the atmosphere each year. The consequences of these greenhouse gas emissions are often discussed in terms of rising global temperatures, but global warming is not the only threat from increased atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2). Ocean acidification, which occurs when CO2 in the atmosphere reacts with water to create carbonic acid, has already increased ocean acidity by 30 percent (Doney, 2006). Although the chemistry of this effect is well understood and not much debated, the full consequences of ocean acidification for marine ecosystems and human well-being are only beginning to be revealed.

The building and construction sector generates substantial social and economic benefits, employing over 111 million people worldwide and contributing approximately ten percent to the global gross domestic product (UNEP SBCI, 2007). At the same time, the built environment contributes significantly to global raw materials use, energy use, solid waste generation, and greenhouse gas emissions (see Figure 1). Attempting to address these sustainability issues, the rapidly growing "green building" industry is employing cost-effective and environmentally mindful construction practices that do not usually require new or costly technologies.

Until recently, most research and policy initiatives related to climate change have focused on ways in which societies can reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and prevent the worst effects of global warming. Current scientific evidence shows, however, that some human-induced climate change is now inevitable and is in fact already occurring. The question of which regions and groups are most vulnerable to this predicted climate flux and how they might adapt to it has thus become an important area of research, funding, and policymaking.

Sustainable development requires simultaneous attention to economic growth, environmental protection, and social equity in order to meet the needs of present generations without compromising those of the future. Secure tenure over land and resources by all segments of society, and particularly by the poor, has been identified as a critical enabling condition for this to occur. Specifically, tenure is thought to be essential to the eradication of extreme poverty, improved environmental stewardship, and reduced resource consumption (Deininger et al. 2003).

The potential for agriculture to contribute to poverty alleviation and food security is vast--over 70 percent of the global poor live in rural areas and many depend on agriculture as their primary source of income. To date, agricultural growth in the developing world has been constrained by various trade barriers and trade-distorting subsidies, which arose primarily but not exclusively in developed countries as a means to protect their agricultural sectors. At the global level, however, agricultural protectionism has significantly hindered free trade and disproportionately harmed developing country farmers.

For the past decade, agriculture has been a consistent stumbling block in multilateral trade negotiations. While both developing and developed countries have a strong interest in reducing restrictions and distortions in world agricultural markets, the issues involved are politically sensitive and engage powerful special interest groups. This monthly update will provide an overview of agricultural trade issues and recent negotiations, with particular attention to the implications for poverty alleviation in the developing world.

While fossil fuels still account for more than 95 percent of the global transportation fuel market, biofuel production is growing roughly 15 percent per year, a rate over ten times that of oil. Under mounting pressure to improve domestic energy security and combat global climate change, countries are now turning to ethanol and biodiesel to meet rising transportation fuel demands. In 2005, the U.S. pledged to nearly double ethanol production by 2012, and the European Community recently announced that biofuels will meet 10 percent of their transportation fuel needs by 2020.

However, not everyone is enthusiastic about the biofuel "boom." Critics are highlighting the potential environmental and social costs of biofuels, including the consequences of increased food prices on the global poor. The development of cellulosic ethanol could dispel some of these concerns, but additional research and investment are needed to make this technology commercially viable and environmentally sustainable. The following discussion will highlight the potential benefits and drawbacks of biofuels as a renewable energy source in the transportation sector.

The earth's polar regions--the Arctic and Antarctic--are essential to maintaining the planet's climate as we know it. The vast expanses of ice and snow found at high latitudes help to cool the earth by reflecting incoming solar radiation, and the temperature gradient between the equator and the poles is a major driver of ocean and atmospheric currents, the pathways by which heat is distributed around the globe.

With global warming, these dynamic processes have caused temperatures in many polar locations to rise about twice as fast as the global average during the past few decades. As a result, polar ecosystems have already undergone significant physical changes, often to the detriment of these regions' inhabitants. For example, recent media coverage has focused on climate change's negative effects on Arctic polar bear populations.

Between 2000 and 2005, 73,000 square kilometers (~28,000 square miles) of forest--an area approximately the size of Panama, Sierra Leone, or Ireland--were destroyed each year (FAO, 2005). The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) reports that 54 countries have lost 90 percent or more of their forest cover. Encouragingly, deforestation rates in Europe, North America, and China have slowed in the past decade due to reforestation and afforestation initiatives. However, rapid deforestation continues in the tropical regions of South America, Africa, and Asia, where socio-economic and political problems present formidable challenges to forest conservation.

For the first time in human history, more than one-half of the world's population lives in cities. The global urban population growth rate averages 2 percent annually (compared to an annual rural growth rate of 0.3 percent), and the number of megacities - those with populations in excess of 10 million people - has quadrupled in the past two decades. These trends are expected to continue, dominated by demographic shifts in the developing world. The United Nations predicts that more than 80 percent of population growth in the next ten years will occur in the urban areas of developing countries.

The sandy beaches, rocky shorelines, water, and waves of coastal areas are perhaps most readily associated with recreation and natural beauty. Coastal ecosystems, however, have an economic value beyond their aesthetic benefit, supporting human lives and livelihoods through the provision of food and materials, nutrient cycling, waste processing, and other essential goods and services.

By one estimation, the combined global value of goods and services from coastal ecosystems is over US$12 trillion annually (1997 dollars; Costanza et al., 1997)--a figure larger than the United States' Gross Domestic Product in 2004. Yet many of these services are not explicitly priced in world markets, leaving governments, businesses, and individuals with few incentives to maintain them.