The Stream, June 1: The Fight For Australia’s Food

Switching to a low-carbon global economy could create a net gain of between 15 and 60 million new jobs around the world, according to a report from the United Nations Environment Programme, the Guardian reported.

Iran has rejected a Chinese company’s bid to build the country’s proposed Bakhtiari dam, which would hold 4.8 billion cubic meters of water, and instead gave the contract to a domestic company, according to Mehr News.

Agriculture
Australia’s government is studying ways to change policies to allow large investments and development projects by Chinese agricultural interests, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. Opponents of the plan say allowing Australia to become China’s food bowl would threaten the country’s own food security.

Agricultural leaders at a recent conference stressed the importance of water for food security and urged the industry to innovate in order to better manage and conserve limited resources, Market Watch reported.

Gold Boom and Water Pollution
The fate of what would be Europe’s largest open cast gold mine is at the center of a debate in Romania, which has pitted conservationists who fear water pollution and other environmental damages against those who welcome the economic benefits the mine could bring, Reuters reported.

In western Guyana, drinking water has been polluted by sediments and chemicals from a gold mining boom spurred by soaring world prices, Inter Press Service reported.

The Stream is a daily digest spotting global water trends. To get more water news, follow Circle of Blue on Twitter and sign up for our newsletter.

Codi Kozacek

A news correspondent for Circle of Blue based out of Hawaii. She writes The Stream, Circle of Blue’s daily digest of international water news trends. Her interests include food security, ecology and the Great Lakes.
Contact Codi Kozacek