Latin America and the Caribbean

Written by: Kimberly White  Costa Rica has been awarded the 2019 UN Champion of the Earth award. The Central American country is recognized for its steadfast commitment to the environment and ambitious policies to tackle the climate crisis.  The Champions of the Earth award is the...

Written by: Oliver Wilson For hundreds of thousands of years, the distinctive candelabra shapes of Araucaria trees (Araucaria angustifolia) have defined landscapes at the southern edge of Brazil’s Atlantic Forest. Humans have never known a world without these majestic evergreens. But my new research, conducted with...

Written by: Kimberly White Indigenous groups in Brazil are calling on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate President Jair Bolsonaro for genocide and ecocide.  The Articulation of Indigenous Peoples from Brazil (APIB) filed a statement with the ICC accusing the Bolsonaro administration of genocide and...

Written by: Kimberly White Mexico has taken a big step towards achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), standing at the forefront of sustainable finance innovation.  The country became the first in the world to issue a bond linked to the SDGs. Mexico is beginning its...

Written by: Johan Oldekop, Bowy den Braber, and Marina Schmoeller Although deforestation rates in the Brazilian Amazon have halved, it is still losing more than 5,000km² every year. That’s an area three times larger than Greater London. By combining satellite imagery for the entire Amazon region with...

Written by: Kimberly White Best known for its beaches and annual Carnival, the city of Rio de Janeiro has taken a step in its battle against air pollution stemming from the millions of vehicles on the city’s streets. In an effort to work towards a more...

Written by: Gabriel Cardoso Carrero, Cynthia S. Simmons, and Robert T. Walker Imagine that several state legislators decide that Yellowstone National Park is too big. Also imagine that, working with federal politicians, they change the law to downsize the park by a million acres, which...

Written by: Maxwell Radwin An Indigenous community in Ecuador has finally obtained national protections for part of its territory after decades of fighting off deforestation and pollution in its mega-diverse rainforests. Ecuador’s National System of Protected Areas now includes the 5,497-hectare (13,583-acre) ancestral Tiwi Nunka Forest,...

Written by Kimberly White  The future of one of the world’s most biodiverse countries may become a little greener following a surprising electoral victory. Gustavo Petro and his running mate, Goldman Environmental Prize-winning environmental activist Francia Márquez, won Colombia’s 2022 presidential election, marking a significant...

Written by: Kimberly White The Amazonian Siekopai Nation has been granted ownership of their ancestral homeland in a landmark decision by an Ecuadorian appeals court.  After a lengthy legal battle with the Ecuadorian government, an Ecuadorian appeals court has ruled in favor of the Siekopai Nation,...