Central America & the Caribbean

"The Guna people of Panama's sinking Gardi Sugdub island are planning to move to the mainland to escape rising sea levels".

"U.N. independent experts are denouncing chronic water cuts in the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, adding that they are concerned about tap water pollution, excessive prices and attempts to silence critics."

"Aruba’s government is moving to enshrine twin environmental rights in its constitution that would recognize that nature has inherent rights and also affirm a human right to a “clean, healthy and sustainable environment,” aligning the country’s government with a growing environmental movement that recognizes humans are interdependent with the natural world."

"First responders and volunteers from Trinidad and Tobago on Tuesday sought to contain an oil spill detected last week in the Caribbean country's waters and clean areas of Tobago island's coast already affected by the incident."

"Construction of two private villas inside a national park in Barbuda has sparked the latest environmental legal fight between angry residents and wealthy foreigners seeking to develop the Caribbean island with support from the government."

"With no date in sight for when it will be safe to drink tap water again on the island of St. Croix, officials in the U.S. Virgin Islands announced Wednesday night that they would distribute water filters and provide free lead and copper testing as they work on long-term solutions."

"Several companies registered in Latin American countries claiming to have U.N. endorsement have persuaded Indigenous communities to hand over the economic rights to their forests for decades to come, a Mongabay investigation has found. The companies share commercial interests across various jurisdictions, and have not been able to demonstrate experience in sustainable finance projects."

"The vestiges of an ancient forest tell the story of just how bad things are at the drought-stricken Panama Canal."