News of change

UN biodiversity summit in Colombia calls for action and finance

21-10-2024 15:04 Delegates from almost 200 countries are gathering this week in Cali, Colombia, for the biennial United Nations summit on biodiversity.

INTERVIEW

Bahamas AG leads Global South's push for UN tax cooperation deal

11-10-2024 09:00 Bahamas Attorney General Ryan Pinder on global tax cooperation, pushing back against OECD policies and how Argentina can help the Global South.

by Mattis Nurit

UNITED STATES

Hurricane Milton approaches Florida with 249 km/hr winds

08-10-2024 07:46 Hurricane Milton is set to approach the Florida peninsula as a catastrophic Category 4 storm, bearing down on a region still struggling to recover from Helene’s devastation.

AGRICULTURE & ECONOMY

Global food prices risk spiking on worst-ever drought in Brazil

06-10-2024 09:47 The worst drought in Brazil’s history is jeopardising coffee, sugar and soybean crops. Dead vegetation is giving way to fires, sending greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and disappearing more of the Amazon rainforest.

POLITICS

Government says it will change name of Centro Cultural Kirchner

26-03-2024 13:12 President Javier Milei’s government is providing Argentina with another ideological distraction from economic woes and human rights disputes: it now plans to change the name of the Centro Cultural Kirchner in Buenos Aires.

Climate Change

Indigenous Colombians fret as sacred mountain glaciers melt

28-02-2024 11:50 The inhabitants of the Sierra Nevada range in north Colombia share fears about changing climate as record heat waves melt glacial peaks and ruin crops.

Environmental Policy

Trump's green-bashing and Europe's right put climate goals at risk

27-02-2024 11:58 Politicians are vowing to roll back green policies and downplaying climate change ahead of key elections on both sides of the Atlantic, casting doubt on whether countries can maintain momentum in the transition away from fossil fuels.

Environment

Studying the otherworldly sounds in Antarctic waters

16-02-2024 10:48 A Colombian scientific expedition to the Southern Ocean is researching underwater hums, pitches and echoes to better understand life in the deep.

Environment

Polluted paradise: Chile town waits for clean-up as coal shuts off

12-02-2024 13:28 Coal-fired plants and factories bellow noxious fumes into the air in a small town, but Chile has embarked on a whirlwind energy transition

ENVIRONMENT

Chile wildfire death toll rises to 131

06-02-2024 16:46 Death toll from weekend inferno that razed hilltop neighbourhoods in coastal region of Chile rises to 131.

CLIMATE CHANGE

In Antarctica, scientists study extent of microplastics

31-01-2024 14:26 The Antarctic ice sheet has been suffering for years from rising global temperatures, and scientists are investigating the impact of microplastics on this environment.

Milei @ Davos

Milei calls abortion 'a tragedy' at Davos, attacks feminist movement

17-01-2024 19:55 President Javier Milei referred to the pro-choice movement as “the bloody abortion agenda” in a controversial speech at the Davos summit as he attacked feminist and progressive movements.

CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT

2023 hottest recorded year as Earth nears key limit

09-01-2024 12:13 The year of 2023 was the hottest on record, with the increase in Earth's surface temperature nearly crossing the critical threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius, EU climate monitors have concluded.

COP28 CONFERENCE

Nuclear power has role to play, says atomic energy head Rafael Grossi

02-12-2023 10:08 It would be a mistake to reject nuclear power because of problems at a handful of projects, says Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Election 2023

Massa's gradual approach versus Milei's radical plans

24-10-2023 13:58 Presidential candidates, set to face off in a run-off election on November 19, have diametrically opposing views on everything from economic to foreign policies, and most notably on the size and role of the state..

ENVIRONMENT

Climate change main culprit for hot South American winter

10-10-2023 15:05 Global warming caused by human activity was the main driver of the recent heat wave that hit South America, a new report finds.

ENVIRONMENT

South America seeks roadmap to save Amazon at 'landmark' summit

08-08-2023 13:34 Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva opened what he called a "landmark" summit Tuesday, urging fellow South American leaders to chart an ambitious roadmap to save the Amazon rainforest.

2023 election

Traders go to US for Argentina stocks to hedge election bet

02-08-2023 13:53 Investors are cautiously looking at US-listed shares of Latin American companies with operations in Argentina, anticipating benefits from market-friendly policies after this year's elections, but refraining from direct investment until long-term stability is established.

CLIMATE & ENERGY

Small solar projects help to power Argentina’s energy transition

01-08-2023 06:17 Distributed generation and local actors are boosting renewables, democratising energy and reducing bills

Climate change

Scientists are worried about Antarctica’s unprecedented lack of sea ice growth

26-07-2023 15:28 Antarctica's unprecedented stalling of sea-ice growth, a six sigma event, calls for urgent research to comprehend its impact on climate patterns and sea levels.

MIGRATION & HUMAN RIGHTS

Migration 'only option' for many in Latin America, says food aid chief

05-07-2023 12:19 Many people in Latin America see migration as "the only option they have" after enduring successive crises of climate change, Covid and spiking food prices, says World Food Programme's head for the region Lola Castro.

ELECTIONS 2023

Ruling coalition changes name as election alliances defined

15-06-2023 20:48 Seven electoral alliances will compete in the Open, Simultaneous and Compulsory Primary Elections (PASO primaries) on August 13 – Frente de Todos change their name to Unión por la Patria but Juntos por el Cambio stay on brand.

Celeste Saulo interview

Incoming UN climate agency chief forecasts wind of change

03-06-2023 08:34 Celeste Saulo, the head of Argentina's Servicio Meteorológico Nacional since 2014 and the new incoming head of the UN's weather and climate agency, insists it's not too late to change how the climate crisis story ends.

ENVIRONMENT

Celeste Saulo elected first female chief of World Meteorological Organization

01-06-2023 08:42 Celeste Saulo, who has headed Argentina's weather agency since 2014, elected as the first female leader of UN climate agency.

ENVIRONMENT

Argentine in running to be UN weather agency's next chief

31-05-2023 10:13 The World Meteorological Organization, which plays a critical global role in tracking climate change, chooses a new leader this week to turbocharge that work over the next four years. UBA professor and the WMO's first vice-president Celeste Saulo is among the frontunners.

ENVIRONMENT

Brazil's Amazonian city of Belém to host COP30 in 2025

28-05-2023 10:21 The city of Belém on the edge of the Brazilian Amazon has been chosen to host the COP30 round of global climate talks in 2025.

ENVIRONMENT

Study: Half world's largest lakes and reservoirs drying up

18-05-2023 17:16 More than half of the world's largest lakes and reservoirs are dwindling and placing humanity's future water security at risk, warns new study.

ENVIRONMENT

Patagonia's underwater defence against climate change

16-05-2023 14:27 Kelp forests are crucial for battling climate change by capturing carbon, but more than half of the world's kelp forests have been decimated by human activity and climate change.

ENVIRONMENT

World's 'oldest' tree able to reveal planet's secrets

24-04-2023 10:40 In a forest in southern Chile, protected from fires and logging that decimated the species, a giant alerce tree has survived for thousands of years. Scientists see in its trunk a valuable record of how life adapts to the changes on the planet.

EU-MERCOSUR TRADE DEAL

EU explores options to tackle Latin America’s green deal worries

20-04-2023 17:34 Mercosur members Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay have expressed concerns about the impact of the European Green Deal.

BLOOMBERG

Biden seeks US$500-million for Brazil’s Amazon rainforest in gesture to Lula

20-04-2023 14:26 US President Joe Biden is seeking US$500 million to bolster Brazil’s strategy to protect the Amazon, a gesture to his counterpart Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva after recent tensions between over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

BRAZIL RAINFOREST

Bold talk, slow walk as Brazil's Lula sets out to save Amazon

10-04-2023 12:46 Environmentalists call for Lula to put his money where his mouth is by ramping up funding to protect the Amazon

AMAZON RAINFOREST

Despite Lula's promises, deforestation still rampant in Brazil

10-04-2023 11:03 Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon rainforest in the first quarter of 2023 was one of the worst on record, according to official figures released on Friday.

CLIMATE CHANGE

United Nations issues urgent warning on climate

20-03-2023 18:31 UN estimates will cross the key 1.5-degree Celsius global warming limit in about a decade

Renewable Energy

Latin America to become renewable energy giant

11-03-2023 17:36 Report found that with upcoming large-scale clean-electricity projects in the next seven years Latin America is poised to become a major renewable energy producer.

BLOOMBERG - OPINION

Why climate change is the greatest threat to human progress

07-03-2023 15:00 The Human Development Index is flashing red for the first time in three decades and adding to the urgency of reducing greenhouse gases.

IMF DEBT DEAL

Argentina to change IMF net reserve target for third time

26-02-2023 08:46 Argentina and the IMF are discussing a smaller figure for net reserve accumulation in 2023, a cornerstone of the deal seen as the only major anchor providing some stability to the economy.

CLIMATE CHANGE

Climate change link uncertain in Argentina’s severe drought

16-02-2023 14:02 New study by the World Weather Attribution finds that while climate change likely exacerbated Argentina's ongoing dry spell, it has not necessarily caused a decrease in rainfall.

WILDFIRES

Death toll in Chile forest fires rises to 24

06-02-2023 09:54 At least 24 people have died and 979 injured in hundreds of forest fires whipped up amid a blistering heat wave in south central Chile, a senior government official said Saturday night.

CLIMATE DENIERS

Climate disinformation surges in denial, conspiracy comeback

02-02-2023 16:51 False information about climate change flourished online over the past year, researchers say, with denialist social media posts and conspiracy theories nearly doubling from 2021 to 2022 after US environmental reforms and Elon Musk's Twitter takeover.

ENVIRONMENT

Mountains of waste overwhelm Buenos Aires effort to curb methane

03-12-2022 08:43 Norte III landfill operator Ceamse said last year emissions were poised to fall. Satellite observations suggest they haven’t.

ENVIRONMENT

Lula moves to put Brazil at vanguard of climate negotiations

14-11-2022 09:43 Lula will present his vision for the Amazon, the world’s largest rainforest , at COP27 on Wednesday morning.

ENVIRONMENT

Agriculture and livestock farming devours the forests of Gran Chaco

09-11-2022 15:39 The Gran Chaco indigenous forest, spanning one million square kilometres across three nations, is a little-known victim of 25 years of gradual invasion by agriculture and livestock farming, with deforestation causing immeasurable harm to local fauna and flora.