On 13–14 August 2025, SIPRI co-hosted a series of meetings in Bogotá, Colombia. The events brought together Colombian policymakers, regional specialists and civil society groups. Aiming to gather feedback for the Latin American Regional Working Group—a collaboration between SIPRI, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation’s Colombia office (FESCOL) and the Swedish International Agricultural Network Initiative—the events focused on the connection between armed conflict, land-use change and climate justice.
The diverse group of civil society, policymakers and representatives of the diplomatic community and the United Nations met under the theme ‘Environmental and Climate Justice and the Dynamics of Violence in Latin America’. Throughout the events, the focus was on finding strategies for balancing the interests of different stakeholders from a regional perspective. Carlos de Miguel, Director of the Sustainable Development and Human Settlements Division at the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, delivered a keynote address at one of the events, which focused on his agency's implementation of the regional Escazú agreement.
A key idea emerging from the events was the need to engage civil society ahead of the 2025 UN Climate Change Conference (COP30) later this year. Emphasis was also placed on fostering regional exchange—especially involving the Amazon area and Colombia—within the Latin American Regional Working Group. Discussions further covered the scope and framing of the green transition, democracy and civic space, and financial instruments.
In a forthcoming SIPRI Essay, Dr Caroline Delgado, Director of the Food, Peace and Security Programme at SIPRI, will expand and engage further with the ideas that were discussed during the events.
About SIPRI’s work on Latin America
In 2024, SIPRI and FES launched a joint report and a series of videos on environmental and climate justice and the dynamics of violence in Latin America. The report, available in English and Spanish, presents the collective perspective of the SIPRI–FES Latin American Regional Working Group, a group of 20 climate and environmental experts from 10 Latin American countries, on issues of climate and environmental justice and food security. The report is accompanied by four video interviews with working group members. A special annex to the report featuring the explicit link between food security and land use change was also launched ahead of the event.
Click here to watch the video playlist.
Click here to download the report and annex.