This year, Bogotá, the capital of Colombia, will begin deploying the first of 1,485 electric buses to replace the diesel vehicles that now dominate its public transit system. The move is expected to prevent the release of 16,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide, or its equivalents, every year.

• The Shurmann family’s expedition, Voice of the Oceans, departed from Balneário Camboriú, Brazil, on 29 August.
• The expedition, supported by UNEP, will focus on documenting and finding solutions to the invasion of plastics chocking marine ecosystems.
• The family will sail through the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea and the Southern Pacific Ocean.

Brasília, 29 August 2021- Brazil’s seafaring S

Bridgetown, Barbados, February 2, 2021 - The Ministers of the Environment of Latin America and the Caribbean today signed the Bridgetown Declaration, in which they called for the integration of environmental issues to be placed at the heart of the region’s COVID-19 recovery stra

Every September, on International Coastal Cleanup Day in Jamaica, plastic is the most collected material. In 2019, the top 10 items collected were all single-use plastic and polystyrene (foam) waste, anything from plastic bottles to food wrappers.

• 16 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have signed up to the United Nations-led campaign to drastically reduce plastic pollution in the oceans.
• Guatemala pledged to increase the collection of waste in rivers through innovative plastic-catching bio-fences around the country.
• The announcement was made on the sidelines of the XXI Meeting of the Forum of Ministers of the Environment of Latin America and the Caribbean

The Dominican Republic has one of the most dynamic and diverse manufacturing sectors in the Caribbean, which implies the use of hazardous chemicals. As a Party to the Basel, Stockholm, Rotterdam, and Minamata Conventions the Dominican Republic aims to raise awareness of the dangers and risks of chemicals on human health and the environment and establish guidelines on how to address them.

Chile owns the biggest fleet of electric buses in Latin America and the Caribbean today. The 200 e-buses hit the road earlier this year in the capital city, Santiago, as part of a plan to cut emissions and reduce air pollution. By 2040, Chile aims to convert its public transport system to an all-electric fleet.

Transportation produces 25 per cent of emissions in Latin America and the Caribbean.  With the air of most of the region’s capital cities becoming literally unbreathable, biking has captured the imagination of thousands of Latin Americans. Four of the main capitals have taken steps to promote sustainable mobility options to beat air pollution and are encouraging pedaling as a concrete measure to clean the air.

Deep inside the layers of ice sitting atop the Andes Mountains in Peru is evidence of the earliest human-caused air pollution. Within the core of the 1,200-year-old Quelccaya Ice Cap, scientists have found traces of lead and mercury, the chemicals used after the Spanish occupation, in the silver mines of Potosi, Bolivia.

When people think of the Caribbean, it’s the turquoise seas, clean beaches, coral reefs teeming with fish, turtles and balmy breezes that come to mind.

For us, this paradise is what we call home. We depend upon its riches for sustenance and, often, to make a living. It is the origin of much of the pride we feel when we say we are from the Caribbean.