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This report by Transforma (March 2025) proposes a methodology for eliminating inefficient fossil fuel subsidies in Latin America to support a just energy transition. Using case studies from Colombia and Mexico, it argues that direct production subsidies should be prioritized for removal. The report suggests redirecting these funds into high-multiplier sectors—such as construction, agriculture, and water sanitation in Colombia, and electricity and manufacturing in Mexico—to drive economic growth and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Civil society organisations are protesting the handover of McDonald’s-branded ‘Mi Desk’ desks to Cape Town schools, facilitated by the Minister of Basic Education. The groups argue that such donations are not charity but junk food marketing targeting vulnerable children amidst a crisis of malnutrition and obesity. They contend that corporate philanthropy fills gaps created by state austerity and disinvestment, particularly in rural and working-class communities. The statement calls for the immediate recall of branded desks, the finalisation of regulations to restrict the marketing of harmful foods to children, and proper funding of education by the National Treasury to remove the need for corporate partnerships.

The document is a formal letter from a coalition of environmental and community organizations urging U.S. budget committees to oppose additional funding for the U.S.-Mexico border wall. The authors argue that the approximately $18.74 billion already spent has resulted in an ineffective barrier that harms border communities, violates tribal rights, and destroys critical biodiversity. They specifically highlight the use of the REAL ID Act to waive 83 laws, bypassing environmental and civil rights protections. The coalition calls for the rescission of these waivers and the funding of remediation efforts for existing damage.

The report argues that superhot rock (SHR) geothermal energy, defined as leveraging rocks at 374°C or above, has the potential to provide scalable, renewable baseload power at costs competitive with fossil fuels. While much of the necessary technology exists due to progress in unconventional oil and gas and next-generation geothermal, significant gaps remain in materials science, drilling efficiency, and reservoir stimulation. The most critical need identified is the establishment of laboratory and field facilities to test equipment under actual SHR conditions. Key technical hurdles include improving rates of penetration in hard basement rock, developing casing and cement that can withstand extreme thermal swings and corrosion, and creating reliable fracture networks in the brittle-ductile transition zone (BDTZ). Power production is the most mature segment, with most components at TRL 8-9, though integrated system prototypes and cost-effective turbine designs are still needed.

The document contains technical appendices for a report on reforming environmentally harmful subsidies (EHS). It introduces a 'Fiscal Pressure' indicator to identify countries where high debt and deficits create strong incentives for subsidy reform, and provides a stakeholder analysis mapping the influence and attitudes of businesses, governments, consumers, and civil society toward EHS reform.

The research applies a driver-response model to two watersheds in the Arizona-Sonora borderlands to analyze social-ecological interactions. In the Río Magdalena, smallholder agriculture employs low-impact adaptive strategies. In Ambos Nogales, urban growth and infrastructure-based solutions, such as inter-basin water transfers, dominate, while wastewater flows and climate change present ongoing challenges. The study argues that cross-border collaboration is essential for adaptation in these mutually conditioned systems.

The paper argues that because political borders rarely align with ecological boundaries, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) framework can serve as a basis for transboundary conservation. By focusing on shared ecosystem services—such as groundwater, pollination, and cultural values—the MA framework allows countries to frame conservation around mutual interests, engage diverse stakeholders, and assess tradeoffs between different service uses.

The research analyzes the conflict between groundwater extraction in the Río Cuchujaqui watershed and the conservation goals of the Sierra de Álamos protected area, concluding that institutional mandate conflicts have blocked the creation of a conservation-focused water management program.

The research analyzes a decade-long initiative in the Arizona-Sonora border region, demonstrating that transboundary adaptive management is enhanced through binational collaboration, the involvement of multiple institutions, and the creation of accessible information tools for water-resources managers.

The document analyzes the role of electricity supply as a climate adaptation tool for groundwater pumping, specifically highlighting how low night-time tariffs in Mexico have led to increased pumping and higher emissions, threatening aquifer sustainability and riparian ecosystems.

The paper examines water management in Nogales, Sonora, where interbasin transfers are used to combat scarcity driven by population growth and climate change. It highlights a system where wastewater is exported north to the US and south to the Alisos basin, the city's primary drinking-water source, leading to indirect potable reuse via aquifer recharge. The study concludes that these strategies increase water scarcity in Nogales and cause negative health, livelihood, and environmental effects in the source basin.

The document analyzes the nexus of energy, water, and climate in Mexico, arguing that subsidized nighttime electricity tariffs have incentivized indiscriminate groundwater pumping, undermining water conservation efforts and threatening aquifer sustainability. It estimates that emissions from agricultural groundwater extraction in Mexico account for 3.6% of total national emissions.

The document advocates for a transition toward a green economy in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region by rethinking Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) to include the anthropo-hydrogeological cycle and non-conventional water resources. It highlights the role of virtual water trade, noting that the region was a net exporter of green virtual water and a net importer of blue virtual water between 1996 and 2005. The text emphasizes that achieving water security requires overcoming challenges related to resource-intensive economic growth and pollution through enhanced institutional communication, political will, and civil-society engagement across multiple levels of water governance.

The document identifies population growth, economic development, and global climate change as three interrelated drivers creating management challenges for water resources. While integrated water resources management and integrated river basin management have been implemented, the authors argue these are insufficient. They propose complementary approaches that prioritize social, ecological, and hydroclimatic interactions, the dual nature of water as both a risk and a resource, and the use of adaptive management to build river basin resilience. These arguments are supported by case evidence from arid and semiarid regions across South and North America.

The study finds that aboveground biomass is the dominant driver of changes in biomass productivity, litter productivity, and litter decomposition during tropical forest succession, outweighing the effects of functional diversity and community-weighted trait means.

The text details the increase in overexploited aquifers in Mexico from 35 in 1975 to 123 in 2009, with a total deficit of 5,490 million cubic meters. In Hermosillo, the Costa de Hermosillo and Mesa del Seri-La Victoria aquifers support a population of over 700,000 and 65,000 hectares of irrigation. Despite the 2013 opening of the Acueducto Independencia to transport 75 million cubic meters from the Yaqui river basin, agricultural consumption in the municipality exceeds 570 million cubic meters annually, driven largely by subsidies.

The study examines administrative management levels and regulations regarding land-use planning in Argentina, Brazil, Spain, Mexico, and Uruguay, noting significant diversity in instruments and legal frameworks. Spain is identified as having the most extensive experience and regulation due to its national history and membership in the European Community. In the Americas, Mexico and Brazil are noted as pioneers in creating land-use planning norms and plans, while Spain and Argentina are highlighted for their experiences in rural land-use planning.

The research identifies a link between water insecurity and the failure of multi-tiered institutions to respond to signals from local users. Using case examples from Tajikistan and Mexico, the authors demonstrate that neglecting participatory interaction threatens the livelihoods of vulnerable populations. The paper proposes that adaptive actions targeted at user-defined causes of insecurity and explicit coordination between local users and various institutional levels are necessary to reconcile economic efficiency, social equity, and environmental sustainability under the pressures of climate change and increased demand.

The document examines the environmental and health impacts of a 2014 acid leachate spill from the Buenavista del Cobre mine into the Sonora River. It evaluates groundwater quality by comparing data from the Fideicomiso Río Sonora portal against the Norma Oficial Mexicana and WHO water quality guidelines, with a specific focus on arsenic levels.

The research examines jatropha-based bioenergy projects in Yucatan, Mexico, finding that the popular discourse promoting the crop as a tool for rural development and sustainability is flawed. Based on 70 interviews, the study concludes that these projects failed to provide significant social sustainability benefits and argues that bioenergy projects alone cannot achieve social sustainability without a comprehensive understanding of local socioeconomic problems.