Diplomacia científica y cambio ambiental global en América Latina y el Caribe

The document serves as a training resource for the Science Diplomacy Center of the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI). It defines science diplomacy through the AAAS typology (science in, for, and toward diplomacy) and explores its intersection with innovation diplomacy, particularly in the Global South. The core of the document consists of detailed case studies covering diverse topics: marine conservation (CMAR), indigenous knowledge in the Amazon (ARPIP), public health and climate in the Andes (PASCC), peace parks in the Cordillera del Cóndor, groundwater management of the Guaraní Aquifer, space cooperation (ALCE and SIRIS), hydroelectric impacts in the Madeira River basin, AI regulation, plastic pollution strategies, transdisciplinary research (Belmont Forum), industrial conflicts in Fray Bentos, coal power in Jamaica, EU-Mercosur trade agreements, lithium supply chain justice, pesticide regulation comparisons, and corporate sustainability governance in Juruti. Each case analyzes the role of scientific evidence in policy-making, the challenges of multilateral cooperation, and the importance of inclusive governance.

• The Eastern Tropical Pacific Marine Corridor (CMAR) is a voluntary regional cooperation mechanism involving Ecuador, Costa Rica, Colombia, and Panama to protect one of the world's most biodiverse oceans, utilizing a hybrid governance structure that integrates scientific and diplomatic expertise.
• The Amazonian Regional Platform for Indigenous Peoples (ARPIP), created by the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (OTCA) in 2022, is the first government-backed regional initiative to include indigenous peoples in climate governance decision-making.
• The Andean Health and Climate Change Plan 2020–2025 (PASCC) integrates health, environmental, and diplomatic domains to address climate-driven vulnerabilities in Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela, promoting the 'One Health' approach.
• The Peace Parks in the Cordillera del Cóndor serve as a transboundary conservation tool between Ecuador and Peru to foster peace and biodiversity protection, though success has been limited by a lack of long-term planning and conflicts with the mining sector.
• The Guaraní Aquifer Agreement, signed by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay in 2010, is a pioneering example of hydro-diplomacy in the Western Hemisphere, focusing on the sustainable management of one of the world's largest freshwater reservoirs.
• The Latin American and Caribbean Space Agency (ALCE), established in 2021, and the SIRIS Project aim to foster regional space cooperation and provide open-access satellite data to improve climate resilience and disaster risk reduction.
• Global AI regulation is characterized by divergent regional approaches: the EU uses a risk-based classification system, China focuses on algorithmic control and national sovereignty, and the US emphasizes a market-driven, self-regulatory approach with a focus on a 'Bill of AI Rights'.
• Efforts to reduce plastic pollution in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, and Jamaica reveal a 'gap between intention and action,' where bans on single-use plastics are often insufficient without behavioral science strategies and comprehensive ecosystem-level institutional design.
• The Belmont Forum and IAI promote transdisciplinary (TD) research to address global environmental change, emphasizing the need to shift power dynamics in knowledge production and integrate local and indigenous perspectives.
• The pulp mill conflict in Fray Bentos between Uruguay and Argentina demonstrates that science can act as both a tool for cooperation and a source of controversy, where technical data on water quality was used to legitimize opposing political positions.
• The EU-Mercosur agreement's 'additional letter' on sustainability highlights the tension between the EU's 'promotional approach' to environmental standards and the Mercosur countries' concerns over sovereignty and the potential for 'green' trade barriers.
• Lithium mining in the 'Lithium Triangle' (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile) creates a global environmental justice imbalance, where the Global North benefits from electric vehicles while the Global South bears the ecological costs, such as water scarcity and biodiversity loss.
• A comparison of pesticide regulations shows that the EU employs a more rigorous, centralized risk-assessment system (Regulation 1107/2009), whereas the US system is more fragmented between federal (EPA) and state authorities.
• The 'Sustainable Juruti' model in Brazil's bauxite mining sector attempts a multi-stakeholder governance approach to secure a 'Social License to Operate' (SLO), but faces challenges due to overlapping mandates with local government and asymmetric power relations.

APA

Ohira, M., Torres, I., Portmess, K., de Oliveira, A. J., Onuki, J., Ferreira, G., Lyra, R., Bonk, R., Bafti, A., & Loss, F. (n.d.). Diplomacia científica y cambio ambiental global en América Latina y el Caribe. Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research. https://iai.int/administrador/assets/images/ckfinder/files/Recursos%20moodle/Recursos%20diplomacia%20cient%C3%ADfica/Spanish/IAI_SciDip_Casos%20de%20Estudio_Completo_SP.pdf

Chicago

Ohira, Marcella, Irene Torres, Kim Portmess, Amâncio Jorge de Oliveira, Janina Onuki, Gabriela Ferreira, Rodrigo Lyra, et al. Diplomacia científica y cambio ambiental global en América Latina y el Caribe. Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research, n.d. https://iai.int/administrador/assets/images/ckfinder/files/Recursos%20moodle/Recursos%20diplomacia%20cient%C3%ADfica/Spanish/IAI_SciDip_Casos%20de%20Estudio_Completo_SP.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{ohiranddiplomacia, author = {Ohira, Marcella and Torres, Irene and Portmess, Kim and de Oliveira, Amâncio Jorge and Onuki, Janina and Ferreira, Gabriela and Lyra, Rodrigo and Bonk, Romeu and Bafti, André and Loss, Flávia}, title = {{Diplomacia científica y cambio ambiental global en América Latina y el Caribe}}, institution = {Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}, url = {https://iai.int/administrador/assets/images/ckfinder/files/Recursos%20moodle/Recursos%20diplomacia%20cient%C3%ADfica/Spanish/IAI_SciDip_Casos%20de%20Estudio_Completo_SP.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }