From the Andes to the Amazon: Investigating China's climate impact in Latin America

A GV Insight

Originally published on Global Voices

Through innovative co-writing partnerships that bridge linguistic and political divides, our fellows explore the complex realities of how China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) infrastructure projects, energy investments, and development policies create vastly different environmental impacts across communities in Latin America. Our panelists will discuss their collaborative reporting methodology, reveal key insights about China's nuanced position as a green innovator and potentially problematic presence in the Global South, and explore how cross-border journalism can illuminate complex stories of climate justice that transcend borders. This conversation highlights how collaborative storytelling is essential for understanding the true scope of Latin America's interconnected climate challenges and opportunities.

Learn more about the Climate Justice Fellowship here and follow the conversation live on YouTube on Friday, October 3, 2025, 10:00 pm BRT (Saturday, October 4, 1:00 am UTC / 9:00 am CST).

Panelists:

Laís Martins: Laís Martins is a Brazilian journalist currently based in São Paulo, from where she reports for Brazilian and international news outlets on politics, human rights and technology. She has a Masters degree in Political Communication from the University of Amsterdam and is a Pulitzer Center fellow. She was a 2024 Climate Justice Fellow with Global Voices.

Gabriela Mesones Rojo: Bilingual journalist, writer, and translator. Social Media Team Lead at Global Voices and 2024 Climate Justice Fellow. Co-founder of Red de Periodistas Venezolanas, a community of gender diverse journalists in Venezuela. She specializes in covering gender, humanitarian emergencies, LGBTQ+ communities, migration, and sexual and reproductive rights.

Alicia Chen: Alicia Chen is an independent journalist and documentary producer based in Taiwan. Her focuses are migration, human rights and climate justice. She worked for The Washington Post in 2021, covering China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Languages she uses for work are English, Spanish, and Taiwanese Mandarin. Her work also appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, The Reporter, among others. She was IWMF’s 2025 Elizabeth Neuffer Fellow and a 2024 Climate Justice Fellow with Global Voices.

Mengyu: Mengyu is a freelance journalist based in North America. Through writing and photography, she tells stories about how migration, technology, and social movements shape human lives. She was a 2024 Climate Justice Fellow with Global Voices.

Moderated by Ameya Nagarajan: Ameya is the Managing Editor for the Global Voices newsroom and the editor for Advox. She lives and works in Bengaluru, India.