International Update Volume 44, Issue 2
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<p>In a ruling handed down last Wednesday, an Indonesian court found palm oil company Kallista Alam guilty of illegally clearing an area of protected peat forest that is home to endangered orangutans. The judge ordered the company to pay $30 (US) million in fines—$9.4 million in compensation and $20.6 million to restore damaged land in the protected Tripa peat swamp.

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<p>Colombia has ordered Drummond Co.—the country’s second biggest producer of coal—to stop loading coal in Colombian ports until the company complies with a new environmental law. In an effort to prevent spills, the new rules prohibit coal exporters from using barges and cranes to load ships and instead require them to institute a conveyor belt system. While other coal companies, including BHP and Glencore Xstrata PLC, met the rules' January 1 deadline, Drummond estimates that its new loading system should be in place by March.

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<p>According to a new report by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Australia releases more greenhouse emissions to achieve its economic growth than almost any other major economy. The report ranks economies on their ability to grow without escalating carbon emissions, and found that Australia—with its reliance on coal-fired energy—is second only to Estonia in terms of carbon emissions per unit of GDP.

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