COP 29: High Stakes for Small Islands Fighting for Climate Finance

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are experiencing the most severe impacts of climate change. When leaders of those islands met in Antigua and Barbuda in May, they let the world know that achieving climate justice hinges on comprehensive climate finance.

Inequality in Access to Abortion Rights in Latin America

The struggle for women's right to decide in Latin America and the Caribbean, for their access to legal, safe and free abortion continues in the region, with some countries fully criminalising it, others with severe regulations, and a few guaranteeing better conditions, while threats of regression persist.

Solar Panels Aim to Protect Mexican Family Farming

Verónica Molina, an indigenous Comcaac woman, first came into contact with solar energy in 2016, when she travelled to India for training on communal photovoltaic facilities. This later enabled her to take part in the installation of the first solar systems and family vegetable gardens in her community, Desemboque del Seri, in northern Mexico.

Gang Violence and Mass Displacement Ravage Haiti

Amid the ongoing civil unrest in Haiti due to gang violence, levels of internal displacement have soared. Mass internal displacements in Haiti have led to a host of adverse consequences. This includes a disruption of schooling, increased levels of violence and exploitation, and limited access to essential services such as healthcare.

Forest Fires in the Amazon Threaten Earth’s Stability

This year has been the worst for the Amazon rainforest in almost two decades. Although there has been a measured decline in deforestation when compared to 2023, forest fires have ravaged acres of critical ecosystems. For the first eight months of this year, the Amazon has seen routine forest fires, totalling to over 53,000 recorded instances.

Mexican chinampas survive surrounded by threats

Mexican Crescencio Hernández orders radishes, herbs and lettuce for shipment to an alternative market in west-central Mexico City.

Explainer: Why Venezuela Needs To Reduce Its Gas Flaring

The most visible part of gas flaring in Venezuela is the so-called “Monagas illuminated nights.” These are red and orange skies, which are visible from the homes of the locals at night and which show the gas flaring in the oil fields of Monagas, a state located in the east of the Caribbean country and key in its oil production.

A Cuban Town Improves Water Quality Through Desalination

Overnight, hundreds of people in the rural community of Las Mangas, located in Granma province in eastern Cuba, realised something they had already suspected: that the water they had been drinking for decades was not exactly crystal clear, but rather “salty”, as they say.

Latin American Rulers Embrace Harsh Prisons

Invoking the fight against terrorists and sending those who can be charged with this crime to new maximum security prisons are increasingly emerging in the toolbox of Latin American leaders who want to show an iron fist against criminals and opponents.

Food Security in Latin America and the Caribbean: Progress, Challenges and the Commitment to Move Forward

The latest publication of the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024 (SOFI) report launched last July in the framework of the G20 meeting in Rio de Janeiro provides a detailed overview of progress and setbacks in the fight against hunger.

Climate Assemblies Seek Citizen Participation in Latin American Solutions

Danilo Barbosa had never taken part in political processes until his name was drawn in a lottery to join the climate assembly of the municipality of Bujaru, in the Amazon region of Brazil.

Nicaragua, China, India among 55 Nations Restricting Freedom of Movement

At least 55 governments in the past decade have restricted the freedom of movement for people they deem as threats, including journalists, according to a Freedom House report published last Thursday.

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.

US Flails in GM Corn Dispute with Mexico

Closing arguments are in in the U.S. trade complaint against Mexico’s restrictions on genetically modified (GM) corn, with the three-arbitrator tribunal set to rule on the matter in November. The legitimacy of the trade agreement itself hangs in the balance.

Venezuela Struggles to Hold on to Hope

There was an unusual sense of hope going into Venezuela’s 28 July presidential election. Democracy seemed on the horizon. María Corina Machado, the opposition’s rallying figure, had inspired a rare level of enthusiasm, promising millions of exiles they’d soon be able to return to a new Venezuela.

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.

Hydrogen from Renewables or Fossil Fuels? The Panamanian Question

In 2021, the Panama Canal welcomed a French experimental ship on a world tour, the Energy Observer, the first electric vessel powered by a combination of renewable energies and a hydrogen production system based on seawater.

ECUADOR: ‘We demand that the violation of the rights of nature be recognised and reversed’

CIVICUS speaks with Darío Iza Pilaquinga, president of the Kitu Kara People of the Kichwa nationality of Ecuador, about a historic court ruling that applied a constitutional provision recognising the rights of nature.

Chilean Fisherwomen Seek Visibility and Escape from Vulnerability

The number of organisations that bring together fisherwomen who seek to be recognised as workers, make their harsh reality visible and escape the vulnerability in which they live is growing in Chile.

Paraguay: ‘Bureaucratic Criminalisation’, New Legislation Threatens NGOs and Democracy

In a move that has aroused national and international concern, the Paraguayan Senate has given preliminary approval to a controversial bill that imposes strict controls on NGOs in a case of ‘bureaucratic criminalisation’.