Publications

Proposed Climate Change Act for Hungary

While we see more and more clearly that today's resource wasting, growth-bound economy serves the short term interests of a few, instead of the long term interests of the whole society, we still have not realised the urgent need for radical changes in our view and practice in order to reverse this trend. The direction and the toolkit for this radical change are both missing. Legislation focuses only on partial problems following contradictory objectives and thus often serves conflicting interests; therefore, harmonization of legislation becomes impossible beyond a certain point. As a conclusion, it is clear that solving the interrelated economic, social and environmental problems is only possible by using an ‘overarching’ and holistic regulatory framework – which is urgently needed now.

Climate protection

Why Bother with Partnership?
Two and a half years after publishing "Structural Funds and Partnership”, SFteam made another attempt to examine how much progress had been made in the partnership between civil society and the authorities in CEE countries within the confi  nes of the implementation of EU Regional/Cohesion policy and the use of EU funds. There had been a great deal of development in this period – both in positive and negative terms. However, we must admit that in spite of the growing number of positive cases and signs, there is still time left before we can learn all the lessons on how to work together.

Regional policy

Marginal Oil
What is driving oil companies dirtier and deeper?

With conventional oil production in decline, the global oil industry is investing heavily in dirtier and riskier forms of unconventional oil such as heavy crude, tar sands, and oil shale. These investments pose a challenge to the climate, the environment, and local communities. One new frontier for tar sands development is sub-Sahara Africa, a region that is highly dependent on the export of raw materials, but at the same time is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and the subsequent suffering due to the effects of extractive industries’ projects. Other affected regions include the Orinoco Belt in Venezuela and the Western Amazon in Brazil – biodiversity hot spots and home to a number of indigenous peoples.

Regional policy

Africa: up for grabs
The African continent is increasingly being seen as a source of agricultural land and natural resources for the rest of the world. National governments and private companies are obtaining access to land across the continent to grow crops for food and fuel to meet growing demand from mainly overseas countries. Agrofuels - the large scale production of crops used to produce liquid fuels - are being hailed by some as Africa’s silver bullet.

Agriculture and Rural Development

Who benefits from GM crops?
Every year, the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri- Biotech Applications (ISAAA), which is partly funded by the
biotech industry, publishes figures on the cultivation of genetically modified (GM) crops around the world. This annual review is never short on hyperbole and focuses almost exclusively on what ISAAA considers to be the successful expansion of GM crops. But the evidence provided to back up ISAAA’s claims is often weak, and there are questions concerning the accuracy of their data and conclusions.

Agriculture and Rural Development

Climate justice awareness raising
The impacts of climate change are far greater than just environmental problems, they have grave social and economic implications. In the framework og this project the partner organisations were to raise awareness about climate change in Hungary and in Slovakia, focusing on key target groups such as local communities, municipalities, students and decision makers, including the wider public. Solutions were examined in the CEE region at the local and national levels. This publications presents the activities and outcomes of the program.

Climate protection