ECOSYSTEM CHALLENGES AND BUSINESS IMPLICATIONS. Produced by Earthwatch Institute (Europe), the World Conservation Union (IUCN), the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), and the World Resources Institute (WRI), November 2006. This publication compiles global scientific facts and projections from the UN’s multi-year Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and interviews with a range of business leaders to assess the implications and strategies needed to respond to environmental challenges. Companies use ecosystem services, and that use alters the ecosystems and their ability to provide services. This publication discusses the challenges inherent in the use of ecosystem services and the implications for business. To access this publication, visit http://www.wbcsd.org/Plugins/DocSearch/details.asp?DocTypeId=25&ObjectId=MjE3Mzc&URLBack=%2Ftemplates%2FTemplateWBCSD2%2Flayout%2Easp%3Ftype%3Dp%26MenuId%3DODU%26doOpen%3D1%26ClickMenu%3DRightMenu.
REGIONAL INTEGRATION AND POVERTY. Edited by Dirk Willem te Velde. Ashgate, November 2006. Relatively little is known about how regional integration affects poverty. Many suggest that increased investment would be one of the benefits of agreeing on regional integration provisions but this has not been put to the empirical test for South–South integration. This volume, part of the International Political Economy of New Regionalisms Series, examines the channels through which regional integration affects poverty and empirically analyzes its effects on foreign direct investment. To access this volume, visit http://www.odi.org.uk/publications/rip.html.
BIOFUELS — AT WHAT COST? GOVERNMENT SUPPORT FOR ETHANOL AND BIODIESEL IN THE UNITED STATES. By Doug Koplow, Earth Track, Inc. (October 2006). Prepared for the Global Studies Initiative (GSI) of the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), October 2006. This report is the first of six country studies commissioned by the GSI and planned for release over the coming months. The report provides the most comprehensive survey of subsidies to biofuels to date, cataloguing hundreds of government programs that support virtually every stage of production and consumption relating to ethanol and biodiesel. To access the report, visit http://www.globalsubsidies.org/article.php3?id_article=6&var_mode=calcul.