Search Climate Insights Directory

Dr Lucas Ruiz emphasizes the importance of presenting oneself as a 'regular person' to reduce the distance between experts and the public. He advocates for tailoring messages to the specific needs of the audience, such as linking glacier shrinkage to water resources for agricultural communities, and using analogies—comparing glaciers to bank accounts—to explain complex processes without relying on scientific jargon. Additionally, he highlights the effectiveness of visual aids like pictures, plots, and short videos to maintain engagement.

The IAI has launched the STeP Fellowship Program, starting with a pilot in Argentina's agricultural sector involving three post-doctoral scientists funded by CREA and CONICET. Modeled after the AAAS program, STeP aims to place scientists in government or private organizations to facilitate the integration of scientific knowledge into policy processes across Latin America and the Caribbean.

The Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) has proposed a revised Scientific Agenda to its Conference of the Parties. This update aligns the agenda with the IAI Strategic Plan, emphasizing transdisciplinary science and the integration of human systems. The proposed agenda is organized into four primary research themes: human dimensions and policy consequences, climate variability in the Americas, ecosystems and biodiversity, and the chemical composition of the atmosphere, oceans, and freshwater. These themes aim to address regional sustainability, including food and water security, climate adaptation, and biodiversity conservation across the Americas.

The document examines how COVID-19 disrupted mining employment through lockdowns, supply chain failures, and commodity price volatility. It highlights the vulnerability of contractual and migrant workers, the risk of insolvency for local SMEs, and the potential for accelerated automation. The author argues that recovery requires shifting from blanket stimulus to targeted support, redesigning workplaces for health safety, and diversifying local industrial bases to reduce dependency on mining jobs.

The document examines how COVID-19 disrupted mining operations, specifically affecting direct employment, contractors, and local suppliers. It highlights the vulnerability of underground mining and non-permanent workers, while noting that automation and 'essential service' designations mitigated some impacts. The report argues for a transition from general stimulus packages to sector-specific support, emphasizing the need for new health protocols, increased local sourcing to reduce global supply chain dependency, and investment in worker reskilling to prepare for future systemic shocks.

The document analyzes how COVID-19 disrupted the mining sector through supply chain failures, reduced demand, and health-related closures. It highlights the vulnerability of non-permanent workers and local SMEs, while noting that automation may accelerate as a risk-mitigation strategy. The author recommends transitioning from general to targeted support, updating health and safety regulations, and investing in worker retraining to build long-term resilience against future 'black swan' events.

The document details the evolution of MSME-focused initiatives at the WTO, specifically the work of an Informal Working Group (IWG) consisting of over 90 members. It outlines the group's efforts to develop non-binding outcomes for the Twelfth Ministerial Conference (MC12), focusing on access to information, trade finance, trade facilitation, and good regulatory practices. The briefing also compares these efforts with SME-related provisions in regional trade agreements like the CPTPP and USMCA, and the work of international bodies such as the OECD and UNCTAD.

The document tracks the evolution of MSME-focused initiatives within the WTO, specifically the work of an Informal Working Group comprising over 90 members. It outlines the group's efforts to identify barriers to global trade for smaller enterprises—such as access to information, trade finance, and high compliance costs—and details several draft recommendations and declarations intended to formalize a work program for MSMEs. It also compares these efforts with MSME provisions in regional trade agreements like the CPTPP and USMCA.

The document analyzes the tension between South Africa's efforts to reform its copyright law via the Copyright Amendment Bill B13-2017 and the US Trade Representative's (USTR) review of South Africa's GSP eligibility. It argues that the US uses GSP conditionalities to protect its own IP interests and force reciprocity, which infringes on the national regulatory space of developing nations. The author suggests that South Africa and other African nations should diversify their exports toward knowledge-based goods and pursue a bottom-up approach to IP rights through the African Continental Free Trade Agreement to reduce dependence on unilateral US trade arrangements.

The IAI and CLARA have entered into a non-binding agreement to promote regional scientific capacities through the use of advanced networks, focusing on data management, open publications, and technological infrastructure for global change research in Latin America.

The statement argues that the COVID-19 pandemic has created an urgent need for governments to focus all resources on public health, specifically the procurement of medical supplies, vaccines, and medicines. It calls for the immediate suspension of trade and investment negotiations at the WTO, bilateral, and regional levels, asserting that such activities divert critical resources and personnel. The authors highlight that intellectual property rules under the WTO's TRIPS agreement and free trade agreements may obstruct the affordability and accessibility of life-saving supplies. The document demands the removal of all trade barriers and unilateral sanctions that hinder medical procurement and urges a fundamental rethink of trade rules that encourage monopolies and limit healthcare access.

Friends of the Earth International and a broad coalition of global endorsers call for an immediate cessation of trade and investment treaty negotiations. They argue that governments, particularly in developing and least developed countries, lack the resources to engage in these negotiations while managing the COVID-19 health crisis. The statement demands that trade negotiators focus exclusively on removing obstacles, such as intellectual property rules and unilateral sanctions, that hinder access to affordable vaccines, medicines, and diagnostics.

The report argues that the 'Sustainable Agriculture Initiative' (SAI), 'New Vision for Agriculture' (NVA), and 'Food and Land Use Coalition' (FOLU) promote a version of 'junk agroecology' (agroecología chatarra). This approach selectively adopts agroecological techniques to mitigate environmental damage while preserving the industrial, profit-driven corporate model. The authors contrast this with a transformative agroecology rooted in food sovereignty and social justice, which requires shifting power from corporations to small-scale producers.

The report argues that big agrifood capital is developing 'junk agroecology'—a selective appropriation of agroecological techniques integrated into a productivist, market-driven framework. Through an analysis of three major initiatives—the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI), the New Vision for Agriculture (NVA), and the Food and Land Use Economy Coalition (FOLU)—the authors demonstrate how corporations use 'sustainable intensification' to greenwash the industrial food system. These initiatives prioritize technological determinism (such as gene editing and big data), the integration of smallholders into global value chains, and multi-stakeholder governance models that shift power from public institutions to private entities. The report concludes that a true agroecological transition requires participatory public policies rooted in food sovereignty and social justice, rather than corporate-led reforms.

The report argues that multinational corporations are promoting a 'fake agroecology' (agroécologie bidon) through initiatives like the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI), the New Vision for Agriculture (NVA), and the Food and Land Use Coalition (FOLU). These initiatives are characterized as 'sustainable intensification' rather than true agroecology, as they prioritize technological productivism, market-driven value chains, and public-private governance over social justice and structural transformation. The authors contend that this approach allows industrial giants to 'greenwash' their image while maintaining the existing power structures of the global food system.

The briefing warns that emergency government responses to the COVID-19 pandemic—such as lockdowns, medical supply requisitions, and export bans—create an unprecedented risk of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) claims under over 3,000 investment treaties. It highlights the unpredictability of arbitration tribunals and the high cost of defense, citing historical examples from Argentina and Egypt where states faced multi-billion dollar awards. The authors call for a coordinated global response, potentially through the UN or WTO, to suspend ISDS for pandemic measures or issue joint interpretations of the 'state of necessity' defense. As an interim measure, it suggests states may withdraw their consent to arbitration.

The briefing warns that emergency COVID-19 measures—such as lockdowns, nationalization of health services, and export bans—risk triggering a wave of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) claims under over 3,000 investment treaties. It highlights the unpredictability of arbitration tribunals and the high cost of defense, which can average 8 million USD per case. Using historical examples like Argentina's 2001 crisis, the document illustrates how such claims can result in billions of dollars in awards, potentially undermining national health budgets and IMF rescue packages. The authors call for a coordinated global response via the UN, UNCTAD, or UNCITRAL to suspend arbitration for COVID-19 measures or issue joint interpretations of the 'state of necessity' defense. As an interim measure, it suggests that states may unilaterally withdraw their consent to arbitration.

Reclaim Finance argues that Barclays' new fossil fuel policy is inadequate, citing weak exclusion thresholds for coal, flawed metrics for measuring coal exposure, and limited restrictions on oil and gas projects, particularly in the US and Argentina.

Reclaim Finance argues that Barclays' new fossil fuel policies are inadequate, citing the bank's use of revenue-based rather than capacity-based metrics for coal exclusion and its failure to ban hydraulic fracturing outside Europe and the UK.

The document argues that formal land titles are often used as a proxy for tenure security but frequently fail to provide women with actual control over land due to discriminatory laws, customary norms, and lack of access to resources. It highlights that individual titling can conflict with indigenous collective tenure systems and may even lead to dispossession. To achieve genuine security, the author recommends gender-equitable normative frameworks, the inclusion of women in land governance, and ancillary support such as technical training and credit access.