The environment is, by definition, global. So over the next two weeks, we will bring you a blog a day from a different part of the world, allowing fresh voices to explore the top green issues there.
Of particular personal interest is the post from Brazil we will run tomorrow. I visited last year and was really struck by the progress made there under President Lula and its ambition to be the world's first environmental superpower. (Problems remain of course.) So we've asked Gustavo Faleiros of O Eco Amazonia to write about the green credentials of Lula's successor, Dilma Rousseff.
In the course of the blog festival we will of course visit China, where the green dragon of low-carbon energy and efficiency is fighting the black dragon of rampant economic growth. India will feature as our first post today on the issue of genetically modified food and, completing the BASIC group, a post from South Africa will consider the role of coal and nuclear in providing that nation's energy.
The other heavyweight in the global environment is of course the US, which sits between a rock and a hard place at the moment, with a congress unwilling to act on climate change.
Two environmental villains will feature: Canada whose political leadership remains in climate denial and Japan, which at the UN summit in Cancun went from green hero to zero by pledging to kill the Kyoto treaty. Indonesia, one of the world's most populous nation is mostly know for the destruction of its forests, but where some small encouraging signs have been emerging.
It's impossible to talk about the global environment without talking about energy and it's impossible to talk about energy without talking about Russia - and so we will. Lastly, there's Australia, the lucky country in love with the natural outdoor life but which also has one of the biggest per capita carbon footprints in the world.
The blog festival promises to be a fascinating journey. Do please let us know what you think in the comment threads or via Twitter.
