Climate change, oil and geopolitics in the Arctic Circle.
Energy & Commodities
Brazil’s discovery of a massive undersea deposit of natural gas could potentially alter its long-term energy strategy and also adversely affect neighboring Bolivia’s lucrative supply of hydrocarbons to its biggest customer.
"Energy should be one area that brings hemispheric leaders together," writes COA Vice President Eric Farnsworth in Poder. "Nonetheless, two significant obstacles exist in making the Western Hemisphere a model region for energy cooperation: politics and investment climate issues."
The prospect of tapping into oil reserves has reignited a decades-old disagreement between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the Falklands' sovereignty. As a British firm began drilling, Buenos Aires made its case at the UN.
With its vast tropical forests, Latin America can greatly benefit from efforts to limit deforestation, writes COA's Nicole Spencer in Poder.
AS/COA’s Energy Action Group hosted a panel on the climate change conference in Copenhagen, the Copenhagen Accord, and the direction of global climate change negotiations.
The $4 billion Inambari Dam will be Peru's largest hydroelectricity project, but its development could come with an irreversible social and environmental impact.