International: South America
Brazil's Lula vetoes parts of environment bill pushed by the opposition that could harm the Amazon
Wed 13 Aug 2025
Brazil’s president has vetoed parts of a controversial congressional bill that sought to loosen the country’s environmental licensing rules.
BP makes its biggest oil and gas discovery in 25 years off coast of Brazil
6 Aug 2025
BP has made its largest oil and gas discovery of the past 25 years off the coast of Brazil as it continues to shift its focus away from renewables and back to fossil fuels.
COP30 must make good on past climate commitments
24 Jul 2025
By Jacinda Ardern, Carlos Lopes, and Laurence Tubiana | COMMENT: COP presidencies tend to seek fresh agreements and ambitious initiatives, but when the celebrations are over, implementation often falls short. That is why Brazil’s COP30 presidency must eschew flashy results in favour of pragmatic pathways to deliver on past agreements.
Brazil’s Congress passes ‘devastation bill’ in major environmental setback
21 Jul 2025
In the early hours of July 17, the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies approved a bill to ease environmental licensing, which NGOs and environmentalists have dubbed the “devastation bill” and consider the nation’s most significant environmental setback in nearly 40 years.
Illegal loggers profit from Brazil’s carbon credit projects
17 Jul 2025
How a system designed to protect the world’s biggest rainforest is funding businesses with a track record of illegal deforestation.
Over 90 arrests made in global crackdown on environmental crime in the Amazon Basin
14 Jul 2025
Assets worth over $64 million were seized and 94 people arrested as part of a multinational law enforcement operation targeting environmental crime in the Amazon Basin.
In Latin America, the energy transition stirs a rise in human rights lawsuits
8 Jul 2025
A new report shows that more than half of the 95 energy transition-related lawsuits recorded globally since 2009 took place in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Countries must protect human right to a stable climate, court rules
7 Jul 2025
Costa Rica-based inter-American court of human rights says states have obligation to respond to climate change.
‘We are perilously close to the point of no return’: climate scientist on Amazon rainforest’s future
1 Jul 2025
Carlos Nobre, who has fought for decades to save the rainforest, says up to 70% of it could be lost if a tipping point is reached.
Pará’s Amazon forest carbon deal in doubt as prosecutors move to block it
13 Jun 2025
The Brazilian state’s contract with foreign governments and companies has run into trouble over concerns it was premature and agreed without consulting Indigenous communities.
Ahead of UN climate talks, Brazil fast-tracks oil and highway projects that threaten the Amazon
12 Jun 2025
Months before hosting the U.N.'s first climate talks held in the Amazon, Brazil is fast-tracking a series of controversial decisions that undercut President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s lofty environmental rhetoric and show widening divisions within his cabinet.
Brazil’s civil society pledges tested as COP30 climate summit approaches
9 Jun 2025
Hopes of real civil influence at November’s UN negotiations in Belém are being undermined by costs, bureaucracy and mixed messaging.
South America sets historic benchmark: Zero new coal plants planned
28 May 2025
South America just achieved a remarkable energy milestone, quietly setting a global benchmark: for the first time in history, the entire continent now has zero new coal-fired power plants planned.
In Panama, an Indigenous-led project rewrites the rules of reforestation
27 May 2025
Scientists from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute are collaborating with local communities in the Ngäbe-Buglé Comarca, a protected Indigenous territory, to foster a ground-up reforestation strategy using native trees and carbon payments.
Brazil seeks early deals on two stalled issues at Bonn climate talks
26 May 2025
Moving forward work on just transition and implementing recommendations from the Global Stocktake of climate progress are key priorities for upcoming UN negotiations.
Tropical forest loss hit new heights in 2024; fire a major driver in Latin America
23 May 2025
Tropical forest loss skyrocketed in 2024, with vast swaths of primary forest consumed by fire, according to new satellite data.
Surfer, first lady and former PM among Brazil’s COP30 envoys
21 May 2025
Brazil has appointed 30 envoys including the first lady Janja Lula da Silva and New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern to liaise with “priority” sectors and regions.
‘Significant’ risk of Amazon forest dieback if global warming overshoots 1.5C
19 May 2025
Even passing 1.5C of global warming temporarily would trigger a “significant” risk of Amazon forest “dieback”, says a new study.
Who has the right to decide what happens on indigenous lands?
7 May 2025
In Ecuador, Indigenous communities are fighting for stronger safeguards to protect their sovereignty as more oil drilling looms. A right to say no to unwanted development could revolutionize consultation processes used around the world.
Honduras pays the climate cost as its forests disappear and storms rise
11 Apr 2025
Despite its high vulnerability to extreme weather events, Honduras continues to clear its forests, seen as one of its best protections against climate change and intensifying storms and hurricanes.
Colombia’s top oil company concealed environmental damages: Investigation
27 Mar 2025
A newly released investigation by the Environmental Investigation Agency and Earthworks into the workings of Colombia’s largest company, oil and gas giant Ecopetrol, reveals a pattern of environmental negligence and corporate misconduct.
Ahead of Brics, Brazil official slams developed countries for ‘no interest’ in helping others
25 Mar 2025
A high-ranking Brazilian government official issued a broad criticism of Western developed countries including France on Thursday, in the run-up to a meeting of Brics energy ministers in the South American country’s capital.
Peruvian farmer goes head to head with German energy giant in landmark climate case
19 Mar 2025
A landmark climate lawsuit opens in a German court Monday, as a Peruvian farmer sues a German energy giant over the threat to his home from a mountain lake overflowing with glacier meltwater.
Brazil state hosting COP30 denies new road linked to climate summit
18 Mar 2025
The Brazilian state hosting a United Nations climate summit this year has denied any connection between a new road cutting through a protected area of Brazilian rainforest and the COP30 summit that will gather world leaders in November.
Argentina declares three-day mourning as flood death toll rises to at least 16
14 Mar 2025
Argentina declared three days of national mourning following flash floods that claimed 16 lives in Bahia Blanca, where a year's rain fell within hours, inundating neighbourhoods.
Amazon forest felled to build road for climate summit
13 Mar 2025
A new four-lane highway cutting through tens of thousands of acres of protected Amazon rainforest is being built for the COP30 climate summit in the Brazilian city of Belém.
Risk of financial fallout may deter Argentina from leaving Paris Agreement
4 Mar 2025
Argentina's President Javier Milei has expressed his will to leave the global climate pact, but key trade partners and foreign aid may stand in the way.
Brazil will join OPEC+, group of oil-exporting nations, months before hosting UN climate summit
20 Feb 2025
Brazil's government on Tuesday approved joining OPEC+, a group of major oil-exporting nations, signalling the country's evolution into a major oil state just nine months ahead of hosting the United Nations' annual climate summit.
Brazil asks UN to ditch proposed levy on global shipping
19 Feb 2025
Brazil has asked the UN to throw out plans for a new levy on global shipping that would raise funds to fight the climate crisis, despite playing host to the next UN climate summit.
Intense heatwave in southern Brazil forces schools to suspend return
14 Feb 2025
Record highs delay start of classes in Rio Grande do Sul, where floods linked to climate crisis left 180 dead last May
Probe details the playbook of one of Amazon's top land grabbers
30 Jan 2025
Professional land grabbers operating in the Brazilian Amazon have sophisticated strategies to steal and deforest public lands and get away with it.
Climate change is disrupting food systems across Latin America, UN report says
29 Jan 2025
Violent weather exacerbated by climate change fuelled hunger and food insecurity across Latin America and the Caribbean in 2023, according to a new United Nations report.
Ecuador’s coastal ecosystems have rights, Constitutional Court rules
24 Jan 2025
The Constitutional Court of Ecuador has determined that coastal marine ecosystems have rights of nature, including the right to “integral respect for its existence and for the maintenance and regeneration of its life cycles, structure, functions and evolutionary processes."
Loggers and carbon projects forge odd partnerships in the Brazilian Amazon
10 Dec 2024
Brazil’s largest carbon credit scandal, which came to light in June after a major police raid, has cast doubt on the viability of REDD+ projects in the Brazilian Amazon.
Threatened by climate change, Panama Canal has big plans to combat drought
6 Dec 2024
The lush river valleys of El Zaino y La Arenosa in western Panama, home to hundreds of families that eke out a living farming, fishing and raising cattle, could soon be submerged by a massive man-made reservoir designed to ensure the viability of the Panama Canal in the face of a changing climate.
Agribusiness-friendly states in Brazil try to undo forest protections
3 Dec 2024
Several states in Brazil are trying to rid themselves of rainforest protections, bowing to pressure from cattle ranchers and soybean growers to cut down trees and expand agriculture.
Brazil state to consult Indigenous people on carbon credits sale
18 Oct 2024
The government of the Brazilian state of Para in the Amazon will consult Indigenous communities on how they will benefit from the future sale of carbon offset credits that U.S. companies have agreed to buy to try to protect the rainforest.
Deforestation remains low, but fires surge in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest
16 Oct 2024
The rate of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has remained near a six-year low despite a surge in the number of fires burning in Earth’s largest rainforest.
Indigenous groups in Brazil: We were not consulted on carbon credits
14 Oct 2024
Indigenous organizations in the Brazilian state of Para said they were not consulted by the government before it signed a deal with multinational companies to sell carbon offset credits to support conservation of the Amazon rainforest in the state.
Drought has dried a major Amazon River tributary to its lowest level in over 122 years
10 Oct 2024
One of the Amazon River’s main tributaries has dropped to its lowest level ever recorded, reflecting a severe drought that has devastated the Amazon rainforest and other parts of the country.
Amazon state that will host COP30 strikes largest carbon credit sale in history
9 Oct 2024
A coalition of developed countries and corporations has agreed to a massive purchase of carbon credits from the Amazon rainforest worth $180 million.
Drought is making Sao Paulo’s river emerald green while smoke turns its skies grey
19 Sep 2024
A major river in the Brazilian metropolis of Sao Paulo is suddenly emerald green and clear skies this week turned from blue to grey.
Nearly 40% of Amazon rainforest most vital to climate left unprotected, data shows
17 Sep 2024
Scientists agree that preserving the Amazon rainforest is vital to combating global warming, but new data indicates huge swathes of the jungle that are most vital to the world's climate remain unprotected.
Brazil’s Carvalho to lead seabed-mining authority following predecessor’s controversial term
7 Aug 2024
Brazilian oceanographer Leticia Carvalho has been named the next secretary-general of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) after winning an election that could change the course of the deep-sea mining industry.
Brazil minister warns carbon credit buyers to beware fraud
6 Aug 2024
Environment minister Marina Silva says alleged criminal schemes in Amazon could harm the reputation of credits.
Large birds can boost forest carbon storage — if deforestation doesn’t interfere
18 Jun 2024
A new study shows large fruit-eating birds in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest can contribute to a 38% increase in carbon storage by regenerating tropical forest.
New bill to expand farmlands in the Amazon may derail Brazil’s green efforts
11 Jun 2024
A bill that would reduce the amount of primary forest that landowners in the Brazilian Amazon must preserve may lead to the deforestation of an area twice the size of Rio de Janeiro state.
More than third of Amazon rainforest struggling to recover from drought, study finds
22 May 2024
More than a third of the Amazon rainforest is struggling to recover from drought, according to a new study that warns of a “critical slowing down” of this globally important ecosystem.
Despite drought, Amazon deforestation alerts hit five-year low
13 May 2024
The Brazilian Amazon experienced a 47% decrease in deforestation in April compared to last year, marking the lowest level in five years, and a 51% decrease over the past 12 months.
Forest carbon accounting lets Guyana remain net zero with oil pumping
9 Apr 2024
Experts said UN rules around forest and oil are open to abuse, so that countries like Guyana can claim net zero without cutting emissions.
Forget net zero. We need ‘real zero’ – and these companies prove it’s profitable
Fri 15 Aug 2025
OPINION: Three huge global companies – IKEA, Lendlease and Fortescue Mining – are heading towards real zero. If they can do it, so can everyone.
Trump’s climate report includes more than 100 false or misleading claims
Fri 15 Aug 2025
A “critical assessment” report commissioned by the Trump administration to justify a rollback of US climate regulations contains at least 100 false or misleading statements, according to a Carbon Brief factcheck involving dozens of leading climate scientists.
Why China is still building new coal – and when it might stop
Thu 14 Aug 2025
Last year, China started construction on an estimated 95 gigawatts (GW) of new coal power capacity, enough to power the entire UK twice over.
Wildfires fanned by heatwave and strong winds rage across Europe
Fri 15 Aug 2025
Wildfires caused by arsonists or thunderstorms and fanned by a heatwave and strong winds wreaked destruction across southern Europe on Wednesday, burning homes and forcing thousands of residents and tourists to flee.
Climate scientists criticise Ireland over new ‘temperature neutrality’ proposal
Wed 13 Aug 2025
Climate scientists have criticised Ireland over proposed measures that would weaken the country’s commitments to reducing methane emissions.
Challenges persist in bid to mine the deep sea, even after boost from Trump
29 Jul 2025
After years of delay, the deep-sea mining plans of Canadian firm The Metals Company (TMC) now appear to be progressing as it pursues a controversial new path to securing a license to mine in international waters under U.S. jurisdiction.
India misses chance to tackle UK carbon tax in trade pact
28 Jul 2025
India’s efforts to secure a concession for its small and medium enterprises under the UK’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism did not materialise, as the text of the India-UK Free Trade Agreement made no mention of a resolution on the contentious issue.
Rise in dengue fever outbreaks across the Pacific driven by the climate crisis, experts say
Wed 13 Aug 2025
Samoa, Fiji and Tonga among the worst affected amid warning the disease and others will become ‘more common and more serious’ as the planet warms.
Nordic countries hit by ‘truly unprecedented’ heatwave
5 Aug 2025
Scientists have recorded the longest streak of temperatures higher than 30C in the region in records going back to 1961.
African $60 billion high-speed rail project takes shape
Fri 15 Aug 2025
One of the largest infrastructure projects in Africa has received a new update that could see construction begin soon.
How could the UN climate talks be reformed?
Wed 13 Aug 2025
This year marks a decade since nations successfully negotiated the Paris Agreement, a landmark treaty that has been the guiding force for international climate politics ever since.
