Minera Panamá will have to close the Cobre Panamá mine after the country’s highest court unanimously ruled that the terms of its contract were unconstitutional. The decision comes amid nationwide protests that blocked roads and shipping routes as Panamanians fought back against expansion of the mining sector due to its damaging environmental impacts.
Participants made 341 commitments worth nearly $20 billion, including funding for expanding and improving marine protected areas and biodiversity corridors.
The new law could have major implications for Panama’s land and energy development policies, which are now required to respect and protect the natural world’s new rights.
What they have in common is strong protection of their carbon-absorbing forests alongside increasingly tough measures to hold down climate-changing emissions.
Panama, Ecuador, Colombia, and Costa Rica announced the Eastern Tropical Pacific Marine Corridor, a fishing-free corridor that will cover more than 200,000 square miles.
The Naso tribe will share management responsibilities of 400,000 acres of land within La Amistad National Park and Palo Seco Nature Reserve after the court granted them authority to create a comarca: a semi-autonomous tribal kingship, in the two parks.
MiBus, which operates the Metrobús public transport system, has decided to cancel an order for 160 new diesel buses and purchase electric buses from BYD instead. In total, MiBus will spend $35 million to purchase 195 medium-size electric buses for use in Panama City.
Panama’s plastic bag ban has gone into effect. Panama became the first Central American country to ban single-use plastic bags in 2018.
France began work on the canal in 1881, but stopped due to engineering problems and a high worker mortality rate. The United States took over the project in 1904 and opened the canal on August 15, 1914.
Timing the action with the rest of the Central American isthmus, Panama declared independence in 1821 and joined the southern federation.
