Latin America pledges to hit 70% renewables by 2030

Colombia’s Energy Minister Maria Fernanda Suarez said the region aims to bring the clean proportion of its mix to more than double what the EU is planning to install

World Bank issues record $1.4bn catastrophe bond

The World Bank has launched a $1.4 billion (£1bn) sustainable development bond covering earthquakes in Latin America. It is said to be the largest earthquake catastrophe bond on record and will provide earthquake relief for Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru. The bond highlights four of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which includes good […]

UK provides £62m to combat deforestation in Latin America

The UK Government has announced two projects to help combat deforestation in Latin America. It is investing £19 million in the Partnerships for Forests (P4F) fund for projects in Brazil, Colombia and Peru to protect the Amazon Rainforest. It has pledged a further £43 million in the REDD for Early Movers (REM) initiative, in partnership […]

UK and Latin America team up on biodiversity

A new project aims to promote co-operation between biodiversity researchers across the UK and six Latin American countries. Funded by the British Council’s Newton Fund and in partnership with the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP), Researcher Links aims to enhance scientific collaboration by promoting an international exchange of researchers between universities in UK, Mexico, Colombia, […]

Latin America and Caribbean could be zero carbon by 2050

Latin America and the Caribbean could go zero carbon by 2050 with ambitious and targeted policies. That’s according to a report by the United Nations Environment Programme – DTU Partnership (UNEP-DTU) which stated although those regions account for only 10% of the world’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the region is at the forefront of global efforts to […]

Peru works on green building code

A member of the World Bank Group is working with the Peruvian Government to make buildings more energy efficient. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) will help develop a new regulatory ‘Green Building Technical Code’ to save energy and water. Work on the project started in 2014 when the government established a Standing Committee on Green Building. Latin […]

UK firm wins power contract in Peru

A UK power company that operates in Latin America has been granted an exclusive right to develop a new project in Peru. Rurelec will build a 120MW gas-fired power plant on an isolated field in the Amazonian region of Northern Peru. It will be located close to the city of Tarapoto where there are currently […]

Enel plans €6bn green spending by 2017

Italian energy firm Enel Green Energy plans to splash more than €6 billion (£5bn) over the next four years – with €5.5bn of this on new growth. By 2017 it plans to have around 12.4 GW worth of green power installed, a rise of 4.4 GW on existing power projects, with around 1 GW of […]

$50m energy efficiency fund for Latin America

Companies in Latin America and the Caribbean looking to invest in renewable and energy efficiency projects can apply for loans, thanks to a $50 million (£32.8m) fund. The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) provided the cash for the Energy Efficiency Finance Facility, which supports firms with small-scale loans for projects that will cut energy costs and […]

Brazil could face transport fuel shortage by 2017

Brazil needs to pump substantial cash into refining gasoline or it could fail to meet its fuel demand for domestic vehicles “as soon as 2017”. That’s the conclusion from a new report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), which suggests demand in the nation could outstrip supply by 2021 by as much as nine to […]