Languages
Tuesday, April 8, 2025
News and Views from the Global South
A Long and Winding Path to Revitalize Passenger Trains in Mexico
Retired blacksmith and mechanic José Hernández nostalgically recalls the passenger trains that once passed through his hometown of Huamantla in the state of Tlaxcala, southeastern Mexico.
Mexican Electric Vehicles Struggle to Accelerate
Mexico has seen several attempts at assembling electric vehicles (EVs), powered by rechargeable batteries, which have faced challenges related to industrial scale, supply chains, and competitiveness
Mexico’s New Economic Plan Lacks Energy
This January, Mexico has embarked on a new industrial path for the next six years, where the viability of its energy component faces fundamental challenges that put it at risk.
Violence Flows in Parts into Mexico from the United States
The case of a man arrested in Texas, in the south of the United States, for shipping arms parts to Mexico immediately caught the attention of authorities in both countries. But it was only one thread in a web that continues to become more and more tangled.
Maya Train: Still Waiting to Become Promised Engine of Development – VIDEO
When he promoted the Maya Train (TM) in 2019, then-President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who ruled Mexico between 2018 and October this year, stated that the railway line would be an engine of development for the southeastern Yucatan peninsula. 
Expansion of Mexico’s Largest Port Causes Alarm Over Environmental Damage
The expansion of the port of Manzanillo, Mexico's most important port in terms of cargo movement and located on the central Pacific coast, has major environmental impacts, as well as presenting climatic risks.
Maya Train is Yet to Deliver Promised Benefits
Indigenous craftsperson Alicia Pech doesn’t know about the Maya Train (TM), the Mexican government's most emblematic megaproject that runs through five states in the country’s south and southeast
Mayan Farmers Improve Their Livelihoods and Polyculture of Milpa in Mexico
María Bacab, a Native Maya, considers herself the “guardian of seeds” as she cares for the milpa - an ancestral Mesoamerican polyculture that mixes maize, beans, squash and other vegetables - and promotes its practice and use in Mexico.
Mexican Cooperative Promotes Energy Transition on Indigenous Lands
What began as a search for fair prices for indigenous handicrafts in 1985 has evolved into a women's organisation in Mexico that promotes climate justice while advocating for land and environmental rights.
Solar Panels Aim to Protect Mexican Family Farming
Verónica Molina, an indigenous Comcaac woman, first came into contact with solar energy in 2016, when she travelled to India for training on communal photovoltaic facilities. This later enabled her to take part in the installation of the first solar systems and family vegetable gardens in her community, Desemboque del Seri, in northern Mexico.
Mexican chinampas survive surrounded by threats
Mexican Crescencio Hernández orders radishes, herbs and lettuce for shipment to an alternative market in west-central Mexico City.
Climate Assemblies Seek Citizen Participation in Latin American Solutions
Danilo Barbosa had never taken part in political processes until his name was drawn in a lottery to join the climate assembly of the municipality of Bujaru, in the Amazon region of Brazil.
Hydrogen from Renewables or Fossil Fuels? The Panamanian Question
In 2021, the Panama Canal welcomed a French experimental ship on a world tour, the Energy Observer, the first electric vessel powered by a combination of renewable energies and a hydrogen production system based on seawater.
Mexico Struggles to Cut Emissions from its Ports
The port of Pichilingue, in northwestern Mexico, faces challenges in decarbonising its activities, as do other maritime infrastructures in the country, while its polluting emissions are increasing.
The Ups and Downs of Control of Transgenic Crops in Mexico
Mexico has taken important steps to protect native corn, even standing up to its largest trading partner, the United States, to do so. But the lack of a comprehensive legal framework in its policy towards genetically modified crops allows authorizations for other transgenic crops.
Inequality Also Afflicts Clean Energy in Latin America
The specter of blackouts hovers over the Mexican city of La Paz, the capital of the state of Baja California Sur in Mexico's far northwestern corner, as summer approaches, due to increased electricity demand from air conditioning and insufficient capacity in the local grid.
Drought Narrows the Panama Canal, Delays Shipping
At the bar that Sandra manages in Panama City's central financial district, the variety offered on the menu has shrunk due to delays in ship traffic through the Panama Canal, one of the world's major shipping routes.
The Ghost of Oil Haunts Mexico’s Lacandona Jungle
The Lacandona jungle in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas is home to 769 species of butterflies, 573 species of trees, 464 species of birds, 114 species of mammals, 119 species of amphibians and reptiles, and several abandoned oil wells.
The Opaque Chain of Electric Cars Assembled in Mexico
The city of Austin, Texas, on the U.S.-Mexico border, had 945,000 residents in 2021 and on average each household owned two cars, hundreds of them electric. Among the manufacturers of these electric vehicles are companies such as the US Tesla, Ford and General Motors (GM).
What Is the Cost of Phasing Out Fossil Fuels in Latin America?
One of the most heated debates at the annual climate summit coming to a conclusion in this United Arab Emirates city revolved around the phrasing of the final declaration, regarding the "phase-out" or "phase-down" of fossil fuels within a given time frame.
Renewable Commitments at COP28 Pose Stiffer Energy Challenges for Latin America
One of the world's largest solar power plants, the Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum Park, captures solar rays in the south of this United Arab Emirates city, with an installed capacity of 1,527 megawatts (Mw) to supply electricity to some 300,000 homes in the Arab nation's economic capital.Next Page »
The Week with IPS
NEXT STOP - SDGs
Tracking global progress towards a sustainable world
Tracking global progress towards a sustainable world
