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.

A window into what we’re reading at the Stimson Center’s Environmental Security Program

Bolivian Presidential Vote Raises Environmental Concerns (Associated Press)

Bolivia’s presidential runoff election on October 19 between centrist Senator Rodrigo Paz and right-wing former president Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga has seen both candidates promise change. Yet Indigenous and environmental leaders remain skeptical that either hopeful will effectively address Bolivia’s severe environmental crises.

A window into what we’re reading at the Stimson Center’s Environmental Security Program

The Mining Town Funding Congo’s Rebels and Tech Giants (Reuters)

In April 2024, the M23 rebel group seized control of Rubaya, a mining town that produces 15% of the world’s coltan—a critical mineral worth used in mobile phones, computers, and aerospace components. Rebels imposed a parallel administration in the town, and placed a 15% tax on mineral traders that generates $800,000 monthly from levies. Thousands of impoverished miners in the town, however, still work 12-hour shifts in dangerous conditions earning just $5.15 per day.

A window into what we’re reading at the Stimson Center’s Environmental Security Program

A Water Security Crisis Grips Pakistan’s Indus Delta (Al-Jazeera)

The Indus delta in Pakistan is experiencing severe environmental collapse as seawater intrusion makes farming and fishing impossible. Salinity levels have risen 70% since 1990, forcing tens of thousands from coastal districts. Over 1.2 million people from the broader delta region have abandoned their homes in the past two decades. The construction of irrigation canals and hydropower dams, compounded by the impacts of climate change on glacial melt, has accelerated the crisis and reduced downstream flow by 80% since the 1950s. More than 16% of fertile Indus delta land has become unproductive, as salt crusts cover the ground and boats must transport drinking water to the region’s remaining villages.

A window into what we’re reading at the Stimson Center’s Environmental Security Program 

Low Political Will and Depleted Supplies: Inside Iran’s Water Crisis  (The New York Times) 

Water shortages are a day-to-day reality for many Iranians, as reservoirs shrink, taps run dry for hours, and water pressure remains so low that it doesn’t reach above the second floor. This acute water crisis is driven by a confluence of climatic changes and poor water policies, as Iran’s five-year drought has combined with overdevelopment, excessive dam development, and draining groundwater for agriculture to push already dwindling supplies to the brink. 

A window what we’re reading at the Stimson Center’s Environmental Security Program

Community Patrols Offer a Blueprint to Enforcement of Conservation Law (Mongabay)

In the remote reaches of the Brazilian Amazon, an experiment in grassroots enforcement is yielding results. The Voluntary Environmental Agents Program, which trains and funds residents to patrol their own territories, has reduced illegal fishing, hunting, and logging by 80%. Operating in the Mamirauá and Amanã reserves, the program equips communities with surveillance tools, environmental education, and leadership training, weaving traditional knowledge into conservation efforts.

The Mekong River’s seasonal floods nurture the world’s most productive inland fishery and irrigate rice paddies that feed millions. Approximately 70 million people live in the lower Mekong Basin, and 75% of them depend on fishing and farming for their livelihoods. But hydropower expansion and other development projects are fragmenting the river and disrupting its natural rhythms, with severe consequences for those living downstream.

A window what we’re reading at the Stimson Center’s Environmental Security Program

The World’s Children Face the Most Severe Impacts from Wildfire Smoke (Mongabay)

Evidence of the alarming impacts of wildfire smoke on child health is growing. Children’s developing lungs, faster breathing rates, and greater outdoor exposure make them uniquely vulnerable, and the threat is intensifying as wildfires grow more extreme, incinerating not just forests but urban areas, releasing toxic heavy metals and chemicals.