Award-winning climate journalism from Belize

Policy and Legislation

17 articles

Belize moves to pass its first Carbon Market Bill
Belize

Belize moves to pass its first Carbon Market Bill

By Marco Lopez On November 20, 2025, the Climate Change and Carbon Market Initiative Bill, 2025, was read for the second and third time in the House of Representatives. The bill now moves to the Senate for final approval before it is enacted and gazetted as law. According to a release issued by the Ministry […]

Climate Spotlight StaffClimate Spotlight Staff
December 1, 2025
two people pulling a large dead turtle caught in a net into a boat.
2025

‘Marine Protected Areas are Everybody’s Business’

Over the course of six months, Climate Spotlight spoke to representatives from 6 of 7 of Belize’s Marine Protected Area co-managers to learn more about their job and what they believe it will take to meet Belize’s ambitious and contractual goal of expanding its marine protected areas to 30% by the end of 2026.

Climate Spotlight StaffClimate Spotlight Staff
November 18, 2025
Global momentum builds for fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty
Energy Transition

Global momentum builds for fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty

By Climate Spotlight Over 1,400 governmental and civil conservation organizations are rallying their members to ramp up efforts toward a global Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) last Thursday adopted a motion expressing deep concern over governments’ plans to extract more than double the amount of fossil fuels compatible […]

Climate Spotlight StaffClimate Spotlight Staff
October 24, 2025
Global community seeks advisory opinion from ICJ on Climate Change
Climate Cases

Global community seeks advisory opinion from ICJ on Climate Change

Vulnerable countries are requesting clarity on the legal consequences under international law obligations to ensure the protection of the climate system By Marco Lopez BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Aug. 29, 2024 Belize is one of 91 countries from around the world that delivered written submissions in a climate case currently being heard by the International Court […]

Climate Spotlight StaffClimate Spotlight Staff
August 29, 2024
afterglow alternative energy clouds dawn
Action and Advocacy

Wind vs. Solar – Which Wins??? Both! 

By Climate Spotlight Staff In the world of renewable resources, Wind and Solar power stand out as the heavyweights. Hybrid renewable energy systems that combine solar and wind energy technology is seen as the next evolution of both these energy sources. Harnessing the Wind Imagine a field of colossal turbines gracefully spinning in the wind, now […]

Climate Spotlight StaffClimate Spotlight Staff
December 27, 2023
pexels-photo-552774.jpeg
1.5 To Stay Alive

Time is of the essence…

COP28 may be the world’s last opportunity to get on track to meet the goals of the 2015 Paris climate agreement and stay below 1.5C by Climate Spotlight Staff According to a study published by Earth Systems Science Data in mid-2023, global greenhouse gas emissions are at an all-time high. A so-called “carbon budget” established as a […]

Climate Spotlight StaffClimate Spotlight Staff
November 11, 2023
Youths from Montana win landmark climate trial
Action and Advocacy

Youths from Montana win landmark climate trial

By Climate Spotlight Staff The first of its kind ruling from the District Court in Helena, Mont., was handed down today, August 14th. Helena, Montana is today the epicenter of climate activism in the United States. A District Court handed down its decision in a first-of-its-kind climate activism case in the country. The attorneys for […]

Climate Spotlight StaffClimate Spotlight Staff
August 14, 2023
One woman’s mission to protect Caye Caulker’s mangroves
1.5 To Stay Alive

One woman’s mission to protect Caye Caulker’s mangroves

This story was written by Marco Lopez, a Belizean multimedia journalist. It was published with the generous support of the Caribbean Climate Justice Journalism Fellowship, a joint venture between Climate Tracker and Open Society Foundations. On the Belizean island of Caye Caulker, Allison Ifield is affectionately called “Mangrove Mama” due to her connection with mangroves and unrelenting […]

Climate Spotlight StaffClimate Spotlight Staff
July 6, 2023
What is Climate Justice?
Action and Advocacy

What is Climate Justice?

Undoubtedly, the industrialization of the Global North is directly responsible for the majority of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) contributing to climate change today. Over the past two centuries, those countries created and mastered systems that still continue to control the world. Those systems have not only perpetuated the historical dehumanization of millions of people but […]

Climate Spotlight StaffClimate Spotlight Staff
June 4, 2023
Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Jordan, Handout via Reuters
Action and Advocacy

Syria’s Assad invited to COP28 by host, UAE

Reports from Syrian state-run media SANA News says that President Bashar Assad was invited to COP28 by the leader of the UAE – Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The 28th Conference of Parties (COP) which are to be held in Dubai Expo City from November 30 to December 12 is already being criticized for […]

Climate Spotlight StaffClimate Spotlight Staff
May 16, 2023
The Global South’s Climate Struggle
1.5 To Stay Alive

The Global South’s Climate Struggle

By Marco Lopez Many countries in the Global South have taken meaningful steps to meet their commitments under the Paris Agreement. These nations, which oftentimes lack the finance needed for national development – (and much less to implement climate adaptation and mitigation measures) – have proven to be leaders in the fight against climate change. […]

Climate Spotlight StaffClimate Spotlight Staff
May 3, 2023
WMO 2022 SGCR  highlights “continuous advance of climate change”
Adaptation

WMO 2022 SGCR highlights “continuous advance of climate change”

by Climate Spotlight Staff “Droughts, floods, and heatwaves – record melting of Antarctic Sea Ice and glaciers – the World Meteorological Organization’s 2022 State of the Global Climate report presents planetary-scale changes being driven by human action. Impacts on land and ocean ecosystems are fueled by greenhouse gasses which trap heat in our atmosphere. The […]

Climate Spotlight StaffClimate Spotlight Staff
April 28, 2023
Policy and Legislation — Climate News | Climate Spotlight