International: South America
‘We need politicians and experts’: how Chile is putting the climate crisis first
8 Feb 2022
Hidden behind the Andes in a quiet corner of South America, a formidable generation of former student leaders are putting together one of the world’s most exciting progressive movements.
When carbon credits drive people from their homes
13 Dec 2021
The Mayo River begins in the tropical cloud forests of Northeastern Peru. Where the Andean foothills meet the Amazonian plains, bromeliads, ferns, and mosses grow under palms, tropical hardwoods, and the liana vines that climb their trunks.
Brazil's Suzano CEO says $12-$13 carbon price could support forest regeneration
2 Dec 2021
Brazilian pulp and paper maker Suzano's (SUZB3.SA) chief executive Walter Schalka said on Wednesday that a market price of $12-$13 dollars per tonne for carbon could support the regeneration of one hectare of natural forest.
Chile wants to export solar energy to Asia via 15,000km submarine cable
16 Nov 2021
The Chilean government is planning to build a submarine cable to export photovoltaic energy to China, according to Chilean solar energy association.
How one woman protected millions of acres
28 Oct 2021
The first thing Kristine McDivitt Tompkins had to do when she arrived in Chile more than three decades ago was tear down fences. Demolishing 700 kilometers of barbed wire in the rough terrain that she and her husband bought was back-breaking work, but overcoming barriers in the minds of the locals was much harder. “
World’s first carbon-neutral fuel plant breaks ground in Chile
17 Sep 2021
Work has started on a pioneering wind farm on the Magellan Straits in southern Chile that will produce green hydrogen and help Porsche produce e-fuels, with Chilean energy minister Juan Carlos attending the groundbreaking ceremony.
Costa Rica’s environment minister's plans for a green economy
1 Sep 2021
Costa Rica's environment minister Andrea Meza has ambitious plans for the country’s fight against climate change. But between a warming planet and limited time in her role, she’s on a tight deadline.
Will chocolate survive climate change? Actually, maybe
1 Sep 2021
The forecast has been bad for domesticated cacao. But some environments in Peru might hold the key to the future of the world’s sweet tooth.
Medellin strives to become Latin America’s first ‘eco-city’
1 Sep 2021
The Colombian city, notorious decades ago for its crime and violence, is reinventing itself as an eco-city.
The killing of environmental activists continues five years after Berta Cáceres's murder
30 Aug 2021
The Indigenous activist in Honduras had won the Goldman prize for opposing the Agua Zarca Dam. But it didn’t protect Cáceres in one of the world’s most dangerous countries.
Reforestration fails to make up for Amazon's destruction
23 Aug 2021
Driven largely by the expansion of farm land to meet increasing global demand for products such as soya bean, over 810,000 km² of forest in the Amazon has been cleared – an area nearly as big as Norway and Sweden combined.
Environmental policies could see Bolsanaro in front of International Criminal Court
12 Aug 2021
For the third time in two years, Indigenous groups in Brazil are accusing President Jair Bolsonaro of committing international crimes, for his actions against Native peoples and his environmental policies.
Costa Rica eyes ban on fossil fuel exploration
5 Aug 2021
Costa Rican lawmakers this week will discuss a bill to permanently ban fossil fuel exploration and extraction, a move that would prevent future governments from pivoting on the issue as the popular eco-tourism destination country aims to decarbonize by 2050.
First ecosystem with its own insurance policy
22 Jul 2021
A 100-mile stretch of coral reef in Mexico is now insured just like any other valuable asset. Is this the future of conservation?
Amazon rainforest releasing more carbon than it stores
15 Jul 2021
Over the last several years researchers have said that the Amazon is on the verge of transforming from a crucial storehouse for heat-trapping gasses to a source of them, a dangerous shift that could destabilize the atmosphere of the planet.
Technology boosts efforts to curb tree loss in Amazon
14 Jul 2021
Technology can help indigenous communities to significantly curb deforestation, according to a new study.
Twenty five mega-cities produce 52% of the world's urban GHG emissions
13 Jul 2021
A new study shows that just 25 mega-cities produce 52% of urban greenhouse gas emissions.
‘Hot air’ carbon offset scheme undermines Colombia’s climate goal
1 Jul 2021
Colombia stands to lose $62m in carbon tax revenue and underperform its emissions targets due to flawed forest carbon credit projects, investigators claim.
An indigenous leader fighting climate change
30 Jun 2021
Indigenous land defender Nemonte Nenquimo discusses how climate change has altered the Amazon, the plant medicines used to help fight COVID-19, and the ancestral knowledge passed down by her elders.
Bolsonaro accused of ecocide
28 Jun 2021
Indigenous leaders and human rights groups in Brazil want President Jair Bolsonaro prosecuted for crimes against humanity.
Brazil's slash and burning of regulations threatens Amazon
24 May 2021
President Bolsonaro wants to slash Brazil’s environmental licences, a move critics say will open a free-for-all in the Amazon.
Amazon is now net GHG emitter: study finds
3 May 2021
Something is wrong in the lungs of the world. Decades of burning, logging, mining and development have tipped the scales, and now the Amazon Basin may be emitting more greenhouse gases than it absorbs.
Mexico’s cactuses find novel path to cooler climate
15 Apr 2021
Rainforests are prized for storing carbon, but Mexico’s cactuses are also vital to climate cooling, and provide leather too.
Biden in risky talks to save Amazon
13 Apr 2021
The US is negotiating a multi-billion dollar climate deal with Brazil that observers fear could help the reelection of president Jair Bolsonaro and reward illegal forest clearance in the Amazon.
Brazil to pay farmers to protect nature
26 Mar 2021
Brazil's lawmakers have cleared the way for the creation of a national system to pay farmers, local communities and others to protect natural habitats that provide key environmental services such as water and carbon storage.
Meat giant vows net-zero by 2040 amid record profits
26 Mar 2021
Brazilian company JBS, the world’s biggest meat processor, has announced record profits a day after it pledged to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 – the first global meat and poultry company to do so.
Brazil sets ‘indicative’ goal of carbon neutrality by 2060
10 Dec 2020
Brazil has announced it will aim for carbon neutrality by 2060, sparking anger among campaigners who say the pledge is meaningless and a deliberate distraction from president Jair Bolsonaro’s destruction of the Amazon rainforest.
Brazilian spies intimidated government’s own delegates at climate talks
15 Oct 2020
Brazil’s spy agency has been accused of trying to intimidate its own government’s negotiators and Brazilian environmentalists at the COP25 climate talks in Madrid last year.
Chinese fishing vessels sound alarm off Galapagos
29 Jul 2020
Ecuador has sounded the alarm after its navy discovered a huge fishing fleet of mostly Chinese-flagged vessels 200 miles from the Galápagos Islands.
New Brazilian map unmasks illegal foresters
23 Jul 2020
Shoppers should have a bone to pick with Brazil. A new map shows just how much of the country's beef and animal feed exports are tainted by the illegal destruction of rainforest and savannah.
Supermarket chains threaten Brazil boycott
21 May 2020
British supermarkets have warned Brazil they might have to boycott its products if lawmakers there pass a contentious bill that could enable faster destruction of the Amazon rainforest.
Bolsonaro sends in his soldiers
13 May 2020
Brazil has deployed thousands of soldiers to protect the Amazon rainforest as the government mounts a response to surging deforestation ahead of the high season for forest fires.
Chile sets new target of peak emissions by 2025
14 Apr 2020
Chile has committed to peaking its greenhouse gas emissions by 2025, in an updated national plan presented virtually to the UN.
Big Money firms back Amazon oil boom
17 Mar 2020
Five large financial firms from the US and UK are bankrolling an oil boom in the western Amazon, says a new report.
Military man takes command of the Amazon
3 Feb 2020
President Jair Bolsonaro has caused widespread dismay by appointing an ex-military colleague to oversee protection of the Amazon.
Amazon fires are melting Andes glaciers
2 Dec 2019
Black carbon from Amazon rainforest fires is settling on Andes glaciers and making them melt faster, according to new research.
Bolsosnaro accuses DiCaprio: You're burning the Amazon
2 Dec 2019
Brazil president Jair Bolsonaro has accused actor Leonardo DiCaprio of bankrolling the deliberate incineration of the Amazon rainforest.
Amazon deforestation soars to 11-year high
20 Nov 2019
Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest this year rose to its highest in over a decade.
Casualties mount in Bolivia's battle for white gold
20 Nov 2019
The overthrow of Bolivian president Evo Morales shows how the politics of environmentalism and social justice intersect in a silvery-white metal.
Argentina changes waste rule and opens doors to plastics
4 Nov 2019
Argentina has changed its definition of waste in a move that could allow it to import millions of tonnes of plastic waste discarded in the US.
Catholic church denounces Amazon policies
1 Nov 2019
The Catholic church in the Amazon has denounced attacks on the environment and the life of indigenous people — setting out on a collision course with Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro.
JUNGLE BUNGLE: Brazil pushes Amazon to 2021 tipping point
25 Oct 2019
The destructive policies of Brazil president Jair Bolsonaro could push the Amazon rainforest to an irreversible tipping point within two years.
Sorry about that, says Ecuador, and reinstates Big Oil subsidies
18 Oct 2019
Calm has returned to the streets of Quito after Ecuador’s government agreed to reinstate fuel subsidies following 11 days of nationwide, violent protests.
Pope v president as Amazon burns
8 Oct 2019
Two of the most powerful forces in Brazil, the president and the pope, are pulling in opposite directions on an issue critical to climate change.
'CHAOS, CHAOS, CHAOS': A trip through Bolsonaro's inferno
11 Sep 2019
From afar, it resembles a tornado: an immense grey column shooting thousands of feet upwards from the forest canopy into the Amazonian skies.
Central America climate change driving people out
10 Sep 2019
Droughts and damaging storms are impacting smallholder farmers in Central America and driving higher levels of migration from the region.
BOLIVIA BURNING: It’s not just Brazil's forests that are ablaze
29 Aug 2019
While the world watches the Brazilian Amazon burn, across the border in Bolivia it’s also ablaze.
Without our help, the world's forests would not be burning
26 Aug 2019
Fuel is everywhere in rainforests, but it seems unimaginable that such humid ecosystems could ever catch fire. And without human intervention, they don’t.
Outcry goes global as Amazon forests burn
23 Aug 2019
The environment minister of Brazil, where wildfires have been sweeping the Amazon rainforest, was booed at a climate event yesterday as celebrities including Leonardo DiCaprio and Ariana Grande joined an international chorus of criticism.
Germany pulls millions in Amazon funding
13 Aug 2019
Germany will suspend $39 million in funds sent to Brazil to finance projects aimed at preserving the Amazon forest.
Datacentres should be forced to invest in wind and solar energy, all states agree – except Queensland
Wed 13 May 2026
Power hungry datacentres that are growing to meet the demands of artificial intelligence could be forced to invest in enough new solar and wind generation to completely cover their electricity needs.
Some inconvenient truths in bringing climate science to the judiciary
Today 11:45am
OPINION: Climate science had been knocking on the courthouse doors for quite some time when the Supreme Court of the United States finally invited it into the realm of legal action in 2007.
China’s leadership calls for ‘strict control’ of fossil fuels
28 Apr 2026
Chinese government leaders published a policy document on 22 April – Earth Day – calling for stricter controls on fossil-fuel consumption and greater oversight of heavy emitters.
Inequality causing 100,000 extra deaths a year from heat and cold in Europe
Tue 12 May 2026
Economic inequality adds more than 100,000 deaths to the vast toll from heat and cold in Europe each year, research has found.
Risk of drought in UK grows after unusually dry start to spring
Today 11:45am
The risk of drought is rising after an unusually dry start to spring has pushed river flow, groundwater and reservoir stores below normal levels across much of the country, especially in central and southern England.
Carbon capture ‘doesn’t work’: Former British Columbia premier
Fri 8 May 2026
Former British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell warned the costly, troubled technology has failed to deliver, undercutting a central justification for billions in public subsidies and new oil infrastructure.
While the world hesitates, India must continue leading on climate
Today 11:45am
India’s updated climate targets must translate into systems that secure growth, resilience, and autonomy.
How climate change threatens the economic backbone of the Pacific
4 May 2026
The vast Pacific Ocean and the islands dotted within it produce more than half of the world's tuna.
‘Triple whammy of climate chaos’: Why Antarctica's sea ice collapse is no longer a mystery
Mon 11 May 2026
Scientists have finally identified the ‘triple whammy’ behind Antarctica’s dramatic collapse, shedding new light on the chain reaction that has pushed its sea ice to record lows.
With its first marine reserve, Ghana protects its ocean to secure its future
5 May 2026
Comment: Last month, Ghana made news when it declared its first marine reserve and sited it in one of the nation’s most ecologically and biologically significant marine environments.
UN methane alert system expanded to coal and waste sectors after Indian landfill named among world’s top emitters
6 May 2026
The United Nations is expanding its methane monitoring system to cover coal mines and waste facilities, after satellite analysis identified a landfill in India among the world’s three largest methane-emitting sites.
