Amazon Nations Sign Political Blueprint for Rainforest Protection (Associated Press)

Presidents from South America’s Amazon nations gathered in Colombia’s capital to sign the Declaration of Bogotá on August 22, 2025,. This political blueprint establishes cooperation across a region that spans over 2.5 million square miles and has a crucial role in to play as a massive carbon sink that slows global warming. Signatories hope that it is a sign that the region will move past political rhetoric to concrete actions.

Building on the 2023 Belem Declaration, foreign  ministers from eight ACTO member countries approved 20 resolutions covering food security, climate risk, and institutional strengthening. A new Indigenous Peoples’ Mechanism also was approved at the meeting. Each Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization country will appoint both government and Indigenous delegates to an annual decision-making body, along with direct financing for Indigenous peoples.  The leaders stressed that solutions must come from the territories themselves through listening to Indigenous communities and respecting ancestral knowledge.

READ | Warning: The Amazon May Soon Reach the Point of No Return on Forest Loss

Dam Releases by India Force Thousands to Evacuate in Pakistan (Al-Jazeera)

Pakistani officials evacuated tens of thousands of people from Punjab province this week after India released water from overflowing dams into low-lying border regions. The country’s National Disaster Management Authority moved 103,000 people from Kasur and Bahawalnagar due to flooding risks from the Sutlej River.

The flood alert represents the first public diplomatic communication between India and Pakistan since a four-day war in May that was triggered after India blamed Pakistan for killing 26 tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir. The warning was conveyed through diplomatic channels rather than the established Indus Waters Commission, highlighting strained relations That this warning was conveyed through diplomatic channels, rather than the established Indus Waters Commission, highlights the continuing strained relations between the two nations.

READ | Deep Currents: Assessing Threats to the Indus Waters Treaty

China’s Expands Solar Reach to Meet Emissions Targets (Associated Press)

China installed 212 gigawatts of solar capacity in the first half of 2025—a renewable energy boom that contributed to a 1% decline in carbon emissions during the period. Solar electricity now has surpassed hydropower in the nation’s portfolio, and it is poised to become China’s largest clean energy source.

Analysts describe China’s plateauing emissions as a globally significant development. It represents the first structural declining trend in emissions, rather than a temporary effect created by an economic slowdown. To reach the goal carbon neutrality by 2060, however, will require a sustained 3% annual reduction. This task us complicated by China’s heavy reliance on coal, as well as grid management challenges in transmitting renewable energy from sparsely populated western regions to eastern population centers.

READ | Chinese Solar Shines at Home and on the Road