Latin america’s environmental crossroads: conservation gains threatened by crime and mining expansion

Latin America finds itself at a critical environmental juncture, where groundbreaking conservation efforts are increasingly undermined by organized crime and expanding extractive industries. This biodiverse powerhouse—home to 40% of the world’s known species and half of its tropical forests—also sits atop massive mineral reserves essential for global clean energy, including 60% of known lithium deposits and 45% of copper reserves.

The year 2025 marked a pivotal moment for the region’s environmental agenda, with Latin America hosting major international summits following Colombia’s COP16 biodiversity conference and Brazil’s COP30 climate summit in Belém. These gatherings spurred significant policy momentum, as countries across the region updated their National Biodiversity Strategies and strengthened climate commitments with enhanced focus on restoration and Indigenous rights recognition.

However, these conservation advances face mounting challenges from criminal networks engaged in illegal mining and logging operations that continue expanding into previously untouched ecosystems. According to Alejandra Laina from the World Resources Institute Colombia, while governments have strengthened environmental laws and secured new financing mechanisms for forest and ocean protection, the overall environmental situation continues deteriorating.

This tension between conservation promises and destructive pressures reflects a broader global dilemma: balancing urgent biodiversity protection with the mineral extraction needed for renewable energy infrastructure. As Latin America grapples with this challenge, the region’s environmental future—and its critical role in global climate stability—hangs in the balance between policy ambitions and on-the-ground realities.