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…

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,…

A new report by the FACT Coalition found that many investigations into environmental crimes do not follow the money. Of the 230 cases analyzed, 76% involved the use of front and shell companies, likely due to flaws in the anti-money laundering systems of foreign countries, researchers said….

Political violence is hardly new to America. Since the country’s inception, gunmen have shaped its political landscape, from the Civil War to the Ku Klux Klan, to high-profile assassinations and the bombing of federal buildings. Yet the threat of political violence has deepened in recent years and…

I am writing from Cali, Colombia, where COP16, the UN Biodiversity Conference, is taking place. Among the various goals of those here to advocate for nature, one significant milestone has been achieved: the launch, this past Monday, of the Framework for the International Advisory Panel…

This Monday (28th), the International Advisory Panel on Biodiversity Credits (IAPB), composed of 25 organizations and experts from various countries, will present a global framework at COP16, the UN Biodiversity Conference. This framework provides guidelines to ensure the integrity of biodiversity preservation and restoration projects….

CALI, Colombia: The International Advisory Panel on Biodiversity Credits (IAPB) today launched its Framework for high integrity biodiversity credit markets. The Framework lays the foundation for how biodiversity credits, a financing mechanism, can be harnessed to drive much needed investment towards the conservation and restoration…

The Ministry of Justice, through the Drug Policy Directorate, reported that 54 species in Colombia are at critical risk and two ecosystems are under total threat due to illicit cultivation and the convergence of other environmental crimes.

For the second year in a row, record-breaking drought in the Amazon has caused environmental havoc and left entire communities stranded. Water levels in the major Amazonian rivers have dropped to historical lows. And because they serve as the main transport conduit in the region, the consequences of…

With the announcement by the US of a new initiative to counter the illicit financing of environment crime in the Amazon, there are signs the issue is finally an international priority. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen launched the Amazon Regional Initiative Against Illicit Finance last month with the stated…

Colombia es un país rico en biodiversidad y con una historia marcada por conflictos, hoy se encuentra en una encrucijada crítica en la búsqueda de una paz duradera. En este contexto, las mujeres que lideran la defensa de los derechos humanos y la protección ambiental…

Relentless climate change and biodiversity loss are pushing the world’s ecosystems to the brink of collapse. The planet may have already surpassed at least six of nine planetary boundaries crucial for maintaining a safe operating environment for humanity. The only way to slow and eventually reverse course…

“Behind this destruction there are out-of-control forest fires, the expansion of the agricultural frontier, rampant gold mining, and the construction of airports and drug laboratories in the middle of natural parks and protected areas,” indicated the recent report The Plundered Amazon: The Roots of Environmental Crime…

Since PORTUGUESE colonisers first appeared, the story of indigenous Brazilians has been littered with horror. Disease and violence killed many after the conquest. Slavery on rubber plantations existed into the 20th century. Today wildcat miners, ranchers and loggers are the threat to the indigenous peoples of…

New Capacity Building and Information Sharing Efforts Will Help Protect the Amazon   WASHINGTON, DC – The Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency (FACT) Coalition welcomes the recent announcement by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen of the new Amazon Region Initiative Against Illicit Finance, which will target…