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Saturday, April 18, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Living with nature, the climate lesson from Brazil’s caatinga
“The work of collecting seeds saved me from depression,” caused by her daughter's suicide at the age of 29, said Maria do Desterro Soares, 64, who lives in the poor rural community of Jatobá in northeastern Brazil.
Natural Restoration Recovers Lagoon and Environmental Justice in Brazil: VIDEO
"We moved from a context of socio-environmental exclusion to one of environmental justice," said Dionê Castro, coordinator of the Sustainable Oceanic Region Program which led Brazil's largest nature-based solutions project. 
New Climate Goal: To Quadruple Sustainable Fuels
Quadrupling the production and use of sustainable fuels by 2035 is the goal of a new international initiative to drive energy transition and mitigate the climate crisis, which will be launched during Brazil's climate summit in November.
An Overdose of Renewables, New Energy Risk in Brazil
Wind and solar power sources, essential for the energy transition to mitigate the climate crisis, have become a risk of power outages in Brazil.
Rare Earths, a New Technological and Industrial Dream in Brazil
Brazil, which stands out for exporting basic products such as iron ore, oil, coffee, and soybeans, rather than industrialized goods with higher added value, now intends to make a shift regarding rare earths, a key component in new technologies that it has in abundance.
Latin America’s Electric Mobility on China’s Path
Residents near the port of Itajaí in southern Brazil celebrated the arrival of 7,292 electric and hybrid vehicles from China aboard the ship BYD Shenzhen on May 28 as a "historic event," with unloading taking four days.
Brazil’s Most Sustainable Capital Puts Value on its Waste
Living with her neighbours, getting to know them and chatting with them is what Lucila Neves enjoys most in the community orchard of Portal de Ribeirão, a neighbourhood in the south of Florianopolis, considered the most sustainable of Brazil's 27 state capitals.
Make Use of all Urban Waste, a Utopia in Brazil?
In 2014, Santa Catarina became the first and only state free of open-air garbage dumps in Brazil. Now, 14 of its municipalities are seeking to also free themselves from landfills and make use of nearly all urban solid waste.
Abundance of Renewable Energy Attracts Major Data Centers to Brazil
Brazil hopes to soon reap benefits of its largely renewable energy matrix. Data centers, whose demand is growing with the strides made by artificial intelligence, are the new frontier for these still-uncertain investments.[pullquote]3[/pullquote]
Royalties, a New Indigenous Right for Hydroelectric Damages in Brazil
Indigenous peoples in Brazil have won a new right: a share in the profits of hydroelectric plants that cause them harm when built on or near their lands.
Solar Energy Sustains the Development of Amazonian Communities in Brazil – VIDEO
Electricity is essential for the well-being and prosperity of traditional riverside communities in the Amazon, as demonstrated by the experience of the Santa Helena do Inglês community, located on the right bank of the Negro River in northern Brazil. 
Hortolandia Emerges as an Energy and Environmental City in Brazil
Almost everything seems new or under construction in the southern Brazilian city of Hortolandia, from its wide avenues and cable-stayed bridge to its large buildings and riverside parks.
Brazil to Free Classrooms from the Invasion of Mobile Phones
It was necessary to repel the "invasion" of mobile phones in Brazilian classrooms, even to spark a debate about the use of technology in education, according to Silvana Veloso, an educator with extensive experience on the subject.
Power Arrives but the River Dries Up for Brazil’s Amazonian Dwellers
The flow of the igarapé always dropped for three months every year, but now it has been dry for two years in a row, complains Maria Aparecida dos Anjos, looking at the trickle of water that when flooded reaches the stilts of her wooden house, 50 metres away and on a slope of more than 10 metres high.
Micro-Dams Spark a Wave of Water Sustainability in Brazil – VIDEO
They look like attempts to copy the moon’s surface, in some cases, as craters multiply in the grasslands. But they are actually micro-dams, barraginhas in Portuguese, which have spread in Brazil as a successful way to store water and prevent soil erosion in rural areas. 
Brazil Promotes a Freer Global Biofuels Market
Holding this year's presidency of the Group of 20 (G20) large industrial and emerging economies is allowing Brazil to push forward the dream of creating a global biofuels market without the current trade barriers.
Biogas, a Circular Energy, Advances in Brazil Thanks to Local Arrangements
“I don't know of a more sustainable technology for the transformation of society than biogas,” said Professor Alex Enrich-Prast, an activist for this energy alternative with a highly diversified and decentralised expansion in Brazil.
Clean Energy Boosts Autonomy for Brazilian Women Farmers – VIDEO
A community bakery, family production of fruit pulp, and the recovery of water springs are some of the initiatives of the Energy of Women of the Earth, organised since 2017 in the state of Goiás, in central-western Brazil. 
Various Uncertainties Block Indigenous Land Rights in Brazil
A never-ending battle threatens the indigenous rights that seemed clear and secure in Brazil, until the extreme right emerged in 2018 with a force challenging the civilisational advances set out in the Constitution.
Micro-Dams, a Solution to Water Shortages in Rural Brazil
Water shortage is over, springs have emerged or become perennial, small ponds with fish have formed and pastures have become greener and more permanent, all thanks to the ‘barraginhas’, the Portuguese name given in Brazil to micro-dams that retain rainwater and infiltrate it into the soil.
Life or Energy: The Hydroelectric Dilemma in Amazonian Brazil
The decade-and-a-half-long battle for life in the so-called Volta Grande (Big Bend) of the Xingu river, a stretch of the river dewatered by the Belo Monte hydroelectric power plant in the Brazilian Amazon, has a possible solution, albeit a partial one.Next Page »
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