Green Capitalism in the Americas Web Collection

This special issue of the NACLA Report critically examines the rise of green capitalism in the Americas in the lead-up to COP30 in Belém, Brazil in November. Guest edited by Sabrina Fernandes and Breno Bringel, this collection analyzes how the logics and instruments of green capitalism are shaping policy and territory, enabling new forms of dispossession, and deepening historical inequalities. Together, the voices and examples compiled in this issue expose the traps of a corporate-led transition that claims to be clean and just, but in practice reinforces systems of exploitation and domination. The Fall 2025 issue also highlights the movements, communities, and visions from below that challenge these false solutions and point the way toward just ecosocial transitions.

Here you will find a number of pieces from the issue in translation, in addition to a curated selection of articles available open access for a limited time. Read the full editors’ introduction for more, and explore the full issue here. 

Not a subscriber? While supplies last, you can order an individual copy of the issue in print here.

Open Access

Notes from the Palestine-Mexico Border

Alexander Aviña

Reflections on empire, genocide, and the violence that has come home to roost.

Puerto Rico’s Fight for Energy Independence

Jesse Ilan Kornbluth

Amid worsening blackouts and fossil fuel contracts that deepen colonial dependency, Puerto Ricans are building energy sovereignty from the ground up—one rooftop solar panel at a time.

Greenwashing Debt in the Galápagos Islands

Sophia Boddenberg

Ecuador’s historic debt-for-nature swap promises to bridge the international funding gap for biodiversity conservation, but island residents say it erodes sovereignty and empowers foreign interests.

Has Belém Turned its Back on the River?  

Mariana Guimarães & Rosaly de Seixas Brito

COP30 construction projects have reproduced long-standing social inequalities and environmental injustices, giving new momentum to struggles over water and life in the city.

Green Sacrifice Zones in Antofagasta 

Gabriela Cabaña & Ramón Balcázar

Chile’s energy transition promises decarbonization, but in the north of the country, a growing extractive frontier threatens water, land, and Indigenous ways of life.

Em Português

Belém virou as costas para o rio?

Mariana Guimarães Campos Ribeiro e Rosaly de Seixas Brito

Os projetos de construção da COP30 reproduziram desigualdades sociais e injustiças ambientais de longa data, dando novo impulso às lutas pela água e pela vida na cidade.

“Não somos Vale do Lítio!”  

Bárbara Magalhães Teixeira e Marina Oliveira

No Vale do Jequitinhonha, Brasil, a promessa de uma transição verde traz mais violência extrativista, mas as comunidades estão resistindo e reivindicando o direito de moldar o próprio futuro.

A colonialidade do discurso climático

gina cortés valderrama e Isadora Cardoso

Desvendando narrativas climáticas hegemônicas que moldam as negociações globais do clima por meio de uma abordagem interseccional e decolonial.

Capitalismo verde contra a democracia: o plano de bioeconomia no Pará 

Claudia Horn & Carlos Ramos

À medida que a COP30 se aproxima, a estratégia de bioeconomia do Brasil promete crescimento verde. Mas por trás da retórica reside um aprofundamento do desmatamento, a captura pela elite e a marginalização das comunidades locais.

En Español

La colonialidad del discurso climático

gina cortés valderrama e Isadora Cardoso

Desenmascarando narrativas climáticas hegemónicas que conforman las negociaciones climáticas globales bajo un enfoque interseccional y decolonial.

Zonas de sacrificio verde en Antofagasta

Gabriela Cabaña y Ramón Balcázar M.

La transición energética de Chile promete la descarbonización, pero en el norte del país una creciente frontera extractiva amenaza el agua, el territorio y los modos de vida indígena.