Brazil is preparing to host COP30 in Belém do Pará at a decisive moment for the climate and nature agenda. For the Igarapé Institute, holding the conference in Amazonian territory represents a unique opportunity to transform symbolism into action: to place the forest at…

The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) is outpacing current global governance efforts aimed at ensuring its safety and alignment with ethical principles. While the United States, Europe, and China lead in the development of AI technologies and regulatory frameworks, most countries — particularly in…

In 2024, Brazil took a bold step toward cannabis reform. The country’s Supreme Federal Court ruled that adults can legally possess up to 40 grams of cannabis and cultivate six female plants for personal use. While this landmark decision doesn’t amount to full legalization, it…

In Brazil’s Yanomami Indigenous Territory and across other parts of the Amazon Basin, illegal gold mining has metastasized into a transnational criminal enterprise. What starts with illegal deforestation and mercury poisoning ends with laundered gold flowing into global supply chains. The trade finances organized crime, corrupt officials,…

Haiti is sliding into the abyss. Violence has intensified since the beginning of the year as gangs continued to overrun communities and paralyze basic services. The capital, Port-au-Prince, and several other cities are now largely controlled by powerful gang coalitions, most notably Viv Amsanm and Gran Grif. The country’s Transitional Presidential Council (TPC), formed with CARICOM over a year…

President Donald Trump has suggested that minerals beneath Ukraine could be worth trillions of dollars and that they could help shore up vital U.S. supply chains. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said his country’s mineral wealth is “priceless.”  

Earlier this month, Juliette Dorson, a 50-year-old Haitian caterer, was shot while working an event in Port-au-Prince. Her business partner, Luc, died in the attack. She survived, but barely. For residents of Haiti’s capital, such horrors are tragically routine. Gangs now control four-fifths of the city, wielding not…

The global development industry is facing a reckoning. Long reliant on Western donors, the sector is grappling with deep and sudden cuts to official development assistance. The crisis in aid affects tens of thousands of workers and service users with cascading effects on food security, poverty reduction, health and education provision,…

A world in crisis needs a functioning civil society. But today, three out of four people live under authoritarian regimes that are determined to stifle civil society – and even those in liberal democracies are witnessing alarming efforts to dismantle the sector. What should philanthropy do? A panel…

The global energy transition is putting into motion a rapid shift from fossil fuel dependency to mineral extraction. This shift is fueling exponential growth in demand for critical minerals, the backbone of clean energy, and a vast range of advanced digital technologies. As a result,…