Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group, recently released a report outlining the plight of Latin American Indigenous communities battling against international mining corporations. The study details several examples of transgressions, including an episode from the early 2000s involving Bear Creek, a Canadian mining company awarded a license to explore Indigenous Aymara territories. Their activities sparked organized protests, road blockades, and even violent clashes with police that resulted in deaths and injuries—and forced Peru’s government to revoke Bear Creek’s license.

In response, Bear Creek sued the Peruvian government. Inside Climate News reports that this legal action, pursued through the Investor-State Dispute System (ISDS), won the company over $500 million. Bear Creek’s lawsuit also marked a broader trend in ISDS—a system that has historically favored investors, even when their actions result in environmental damage or human rights abuses. The use of this legal tool also highlights the disparity in access to justice between powerful corporations and local populations. 

Yet the Bear Creek case and other examples also have prompted backlash against ISDS. The Public Citizen report not only emphasizes the particular systemic bias against Indigenous communities (who struggle to participate in ISDS proceedings), but also proposes reforms to the system. Among the steps urged by the group are the alteration or elimination of ISDS clauses in treaties, as well as a proposal that Indigenous rights be incorporated into such agreements to ensure their participation and consent in projects affecting their territories.

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Tensions Rise Over Climate Finance Negotiations

Frustration emerged during international climate talks in Bonn, Germany, as a US negotiator expressed dismay at the push by developing nations to increase climate aid from wealthy countries to $1.4 trillion. Egypt, made the demand on behalf of African nations, which would increase the proposed sum from previously discussed figures of $1 trillion to $1.1 trillion.

Even $1.4 trillion won’t be enough, however. A 2023 UN report estimated that $2.4 trillion per year would be needed by 2030 to meet the goals set out in the Paris Agreement, with at least $1 trillion of that total coming from international sources. In making their pitch, Egypt cited the escalating costs of tackling climate change and the necessity of substantial financial support from the world’s richest nations. For their part, the US and other countries are trying to expand the pool of donor nations to include Gulf countries and China.

While agreeing on a sum has been difficult, consensus on how to distribute these funds may create even greater tensions. Developing countries have emphasized the need for any aid to be delivered transparently—and without increasing their own debt burden. Yet electoral victories for hard-right parties across Europe and the ongoing US election are likely to create additional complexities in negotiations, shaking up both domestic politics and international priorities. Indeed, an uncertain political landscape already has stalled specific commitments from some wealthy countries, signaling that current negotiations will face significant hurdles.

READ | Climate Finance: Can Integrity and Transparency Prevent Environmental Catastrophe?

Climate Change Drives Disease Into New Territories

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has reported a significant increase in locally acquired cases of dengue in the EU/EEA, with 130 cases tallied in 2022, as compared to 71 in the entire decade prior to that year. Politico reports that West Nile virus is also presenting a challenge in the region, with 713 cases and 67 deaths from across nine EU countries in 2023. This geographic spread indicates a broader distribution compared to previous years, despite fewer total cases being reported now than in 2022. 

This rise in dengue and West Nile virus cases is attributed to climate change, which has created favorable conditions for the proliferation of the mosquitoes that carry these diseases. Warmer temperatures and altered precipitation patterns have expanded the vectors of transmission into regions previously unaffected by these maladies and increased the potential for their spread. Notably, a case of West Nile virus was reported in Seville, Spain, as early as March this year, highlighting the extended range of seasonal risk.

The outgoing director of the ECDC, Andrea Ammon, emphasizes the importance of multifaceted strategies to combat the spread of mosquito-borne diseases. With a changing climate and its impact on public health, greater international coordination will be imperative to mitigate the growing threat posed by invasive mosquito species and the diseases they bring with them.

READ | Preventing the Next Pandemic: Zoonotic Diseases and Future Outbreaks