Artificial intelligence has reached a critical inflection point, raising fundamental questions about safety, alignment, regulation, and the very future of humanity. Propelled by technical advances toward “superintelligence” through tools such as transformer architectures, reinforcement learning, and model distillation, the current moment in AI may contain…

Executive director Ilona Szabó’s talk on Civil Society Diplomacy is now featured on the TED website. Ilona is the founder and executive director of the Igarapé Institute, she presented her talk called “The Rise of Civil Society Diplomacy” at the TED Global 2014 conference in Rio de Janeiro….

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been transforming entire sectors of the economy and society, yet its global governance remains fragmented, and access to exponential technologies is deeply unequal. In the “Global Futures Bulletin – Governance gaps: Assessing global disparities in AI policy initiatives around the world”,…

Threats to physical security, land conflicts, environmental degradation, and weak state presence are among the most urgent challenges faced by organizations in Brazil and Colombia working on the frontlines of the Amazon. These risks are compounded by global demand for commodities — including timber, gold,…

O crime organizado se consolidou como uma das maiores ameaças à estabilidade social e institucional no Brasil e no mundo. Grupos criminosos ampliaram sua presença em territórios urbanos e rurais, disputando mercados ilícitos que vão do tráfico de drogas e armas até a exploração ilegal…

Environmental and natural resource-related crimes represent the third-largest illicit economy in the world in terms of the volume of money involved, ranking behind only drug trafficking and human trafficking. These are offenses that affect nature and threaten the planet’s sustainability, such as illegal logging, illicit…

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…

Environmental and human rights defenders play a critical role in combating ecosystem degradation and mitigating climate change. They serve as central members of their communities, organizing others to fight injustices and abuses. Environmental defenders are the first line of defense in places where the biome…

An analysis of the impacts and results of social reintegration initiatives for formerly incarcerated individuals in Brazil and worldwide, focusing on recidivism and the guarantee of rights. This is the primary objective of this study, which mapped 32 evaluative publications related to 21 national and…

The Amazon faces a variety of security challenges, ranging from historical issues such as high homicide rates, theft, illicit trade, and violence against women to new threats to the region’s rich biodiversity, including deforestation, unauthorized logging, unregulated mining, and land grabbing. Considering the complexity of…

A manual for mitigating harm Since 2010, the world has seen a sharp uptake in the use of crime prediction technologies. Although these tools have the potential to improve public safety, they are often deployed without sufficient training and oversight, adherence to procedural safeguards, or…

  The Igarapé Institute, along with various civil society organizations from Brazil, Colombia, the United States, and Peru, presented seven key recommendations to combat, mitigate, and prevent the damages caused by illegal gold mining in the Amazon basin. The proposals were discussed during the event…

Deforestation in the Amazon region, especially in the State of Pará, poses a significant environmental challenge. Until 2022, Pará led deforestation among the Amazon states, driven by a series of interconnected factors. The implementation of infrastructure (roads, hydroelectric dams), the expansion of agricultural and livestock…