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Tuesday, May 12, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Integration and Development Brazilian-style
Developmentalism and Conservation Clash Out at Sea
“We don’t have access to marine areas, because most are protected areas or are in private hands. We indigenous people have been losing access to our territories, as this decision became a privilege of the state,” complained Donald Rojas, a member of the Brunka indigenous community in Costa Rica.
Subway Will Modernise – and Further Gentrify – Historic Centre of Quito
Success can kill, when it comes to cities. Spain’s Barcelona is facing problems due to the number of tourists that it attracts. And the historic centre of Ecuador’s capital city, Quito, a specially preserved architectural jewel, is losing its local residents as it gentrifies.
Coal Entrenches Poverty, Drives Climate Change: Report
Coal power does more to harm the world’s poor than to help them, even before the devastating impacts of climate change are taken into account, according to a recent report published by 12 international development organisations.
Opposition to Oil Pipeline in U.S. Serves as Example for Indigenous Struggles in Latin America
Canadian activist Clayton Thomas-Muller crossed the border between his country and the United States to join the Native American movement against the construction of an oil pipeline, which has become a model to follow in struggles by indigenous people against megaprojects, that share many common elements.
Cities Address a Key Challenge: Infrastructure Needs
“We as mayors have to govern midsize cities as if they were capital cities,” said Héctor Mantilla, city councilor of Floridablanca, the third-largest city in the northern Colombian department of Santander.
Few Families Overcome Forced Displacement by Hydropower Plants in Brazil
The construction of mega-hydropower plants in Brazil has been a tragedy for thousands of families that have been displaced, and a nightmare for the companies that have to relocate them as required by local law.
Amid South Africa’s Drought, Proposed Mine Raises Fears of Wetlands Impact
The dam supplying Johannesburg’s water sits less than 30 percent full. Water restrictions have been in place since November and taxes on high water use since August. Food prices across South Africa have risen about 10 percent from last year, in large part due to water shortages.
New Government Inherits Conflict over Peru’s Biggest Mine
Of the 150 socioeconomic conflicts related to the extractive industries that Peru’s new government inherited, one of the highest-profile is the protest by the people living near the biggest mining project in the history of the country: Las Bambas.
Fish Farming, a Challenge and Opportunity for Small Farmers in Brazil’s Amazon
Domingo Mendes da Silva has lost track of how many visitors he has received at his 10-hectare farm in northwest Brazil. He estimates “more than 500,” including aquaculture technicians, government officials, peasant farmers, journalists and other people interested in fish farming.
When It Comes to Conservation, Size Matters
When the communities living in the Tatamá y Serranía de los Paraguas Natural National Park in the west of Colombia organised in 1996 to defend their land and preserve the ecosystem, they were fighting deforestation, soil degradation and poaching.
Olympic Games End Decade of Giant Mega-projects in Brazil
An era of mega-events and mega-projects is coming to a close in Brazil with the Olympic Games to be hosted Aug. 5-21 by Rio de Janeiro. But the country’s taste for massive construction undertakings helped fuel the economic and political crisis that has it in its grip.
Lessons from Germany for Latin America’s Energy Transition
Germany has been undergoing an energy transition for over 20 years, and it can offer valuable lessons to Latin America with regard to promoting renewable energy and moving towards a low-carbon economy.
No Medals for Sanitation at Rio Olympics
The biggest frustration at the Olympic Games, to be inaugurated in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro on August 5, is the failure to meet environmental sanitation targets and promises in the city’s beaches, rivers, lakes and lagoons.
Germany’s Energy Transition: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Immerath, 90 km away from the German city of Cologne, has become a ghost town. The local church bells no longer ring and no children are seen in the streets riding their bicycles. Its former residents have even carried off their dead from its cemetery.
Building Africa’s Energy Grid Can Be Green, Smart and Affordable
It’s just after two p.m. on a sunny Saturday and 51-year-old Moses Kasoka is seated outside the grass-thatched hut which serves both as his kitchen and bedroom.
Uruguay Seeks Future as Oil Producer in Ultra-Deep Waters
Uruguay is just weeks away from finding out if it will have a chance to stop being totally reliant on oil imports at some point in the future, when the first offshore exploration well in national waters – which set a new world record in terms of water depth - is completed.
Mega Dams Remain Controversial Source of Energy
Although mega dams can have devastating impacts on ecosystems and indigenous communities, many of the world’s poorest countries still see them as a way to fill gaping holes in their energy supplies.
Achieving Universal Access to Energy; Africa Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place
“It is unacceptable that 138 years after Thomas Edison developed the light bulb, hundreds of millions of people cannot have access to electricity to simply light up the bulb in Africa,” says Africa Development Bank (AfDB) Group President, Akinwumi Adesina, mourning the gloomy statistics showing that over 645 million people in Africa lack access to electricity, while over 700 million are without clean energy for cooking.
Natural Capital Investment Key to Africa’s Development
Plugging Africa’s funding gaps to accelerate social and economic development requires a fresh approach to using its natural capital, environment experts said on Monday.
Biomass Could Help Power Africa’s Energy Transition
As fuel, firewood remains the dominant source of energy in Uganda. It has a long history of being unsustainably harvested, leading to severe depletion of the country’s forest cover. But with new technology, biomass is now cleaning up its act.
The Waves of the Pacific Are on Chile’s Energy Horizon
Chile, a country with 6,435 km of Pacific Ocean coast line, could find in wave and tidal power a solution to its need to diversify its energy mix.« Previous Page — Next Page »
South American imperialist power, or integrationist power? The role currently played by Brazil is perhaps located midway between these two extremes. On the other hand, there is no doubt about the dynamic nature of its economy or the influence of its corporations in Latin America. Wherever infrastructure, energy or the extraction of natural resources transcend borders in the region, Brazil tends to be a key player. What are the risks? What is the potential? What kind of development do dams and other major projects underway foment? What effect will they have on the population, and on nature? What will the new geopolitical order that is taking shape look like? With the support of the Mott Foundation, IPS is launching a series of investigative reports by Brazilian correspondent Mario Osava and a team of outstanding journalists in other key parts of the region, to produce a picture of the new course Brazil is taking in Latin America.
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Tracking global progress towards a sustainable world
Tracking global progress towards a sustainable world
