Blog
My time before the region's leading court on human rights
We had been invited by the Court to comment on the consultative opinion raised by Colombian government on the link between environmental degradation and human rights.
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Blog Costa Rica
Costa Rica launches wetlands protection policy
Costa Rica’s new policy represents a significant advance in defense of the environment. It shows the region that progressive environmental policies are possible.
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Press releases Guatemala
Attacks against Guatemalan human rights defenders denounced
A coalition of communities and organizations denounced human rights violations against traditional and indigenous communities in Guatemala, at a hearing before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
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Blog Latin America
Changing the way we approach large dams
In the last decade, we’ve seen that the damage dams do to communities and ecosystems is far greater than the benefits they provide.
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Aida Publication
Letter to Green Climate Fund Board and Advisors: Concern regarding the use of GCF resources to support large hydropower
We write to express our concern regarding the use of GCF resources to support large hydropower in general, and in particular the following proposals in the GCF pipeline: Qairokkum Hydropower Rehabilitation, Tajikistan Upper Trishuli-1, Nepal Tina River Hydro Project, Solomon Islands Large hydropower is a non-innovative, last-century technology with dubious climate mitigation benefits and a long track record of exceedingly high financial, environmental, and social costs. Supporting such proposals would not be consistent with the Fund’s goal, to promote a paradigm shift toward lowemission, climate resilient development, in the context of sustainable development. Further, large hydropower projects would not meet the GCF’s selection criteria related to impact, paradigm shift potential, sustainable development, and efficiency and effectiveness. The reasons why the GCF should not support large hydropower are described in the annex, and briefly summarized here: Large dams are vulnerable to climate change: more frequent droughts make them inefficient and increased rainfall reduces their lifespan. Large dams exacerbate climate change: considerable amounts of greenhouse gasses, notably methane (30 times more potent than CO2), are emitted from reservoirs; and their construction damages carbon sinks, including forests and rivers. Large dams harm biodiversity, which in turn impairs communities’ capacity to adapt to a changing climate. Large dams can negatively affect local communities by impoverishing them, breaking social networks, and negatively affecting livelihoods and cultures. Large dams can become dangerous: climate change-related extreme weather events and earthquakes can cause dams to fail, jeopardizing lives and property downstream. Large dams are not economical and are ill suited to address urgent energy needs: recent studies clearly demonstrate that large dams typically suffer significant cost and time overruns. Better energy options are widely available and the GCF should play a fundamental role in promoting them.
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Blog Costa Rica
Tárcoles: The most contaminated river in Central America
There are two main reasons for the excessive contamination of the large river: increasing urbanization and government bureaucracy.
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Blog Latin America, Brazil
The Odebrecht Tsunami: can we restore the public trust, or just the money?
When we learned of the extent of corruption involved with Brazilian multinational Odebrecht, the news hit like a tsunami: the corporation not only swept away huge piles of money, it also destroyed the public trust.
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Press releases Costa Rica
AIDA statement on the death of thousands of fish in Costa Rica
The recent mass die-off of anchovy—a species on which birds, marine mammals, and other fish depend for nutrition—must be analyzed in detail. Upon finding the cause, an integrated solution must be implemented at the national and regional levels.
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Aida Publication
16 Highlights of 2016: Year in Review
Thanks to the help of our partners and supporters, AIDA achieved many important advances in the defense of human rights and the environment in 2016.
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Blog Latin America
The role of civil society in the Green Climate Fund
The physical participation of civil society in Board meetings is vital. They ensure the Fund takes into account the voices of the communities directly affected by or benefitting from the financing.
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