In the heart of the Amazon Basin, where the borders and cultures of Peru, Colombia and Brazil converge, a tiny, shape-shifting island has become the unlikely setting for a diplomatic tug of war.
“If God wanted, the river would change and even Santa Rosa could disappear,” said Gladys Hari Leiva, a hotel owner who has lived on the island for 21 years.
The island’s mercurial geography makes it a difficult place to settle; families adapt season by season, walking across sandbanks in the dry months, then paddling canoes through flooded streets when the rains come.
Santa Rosa’s fragility has not stopped Peru and Colombia fighting over it. In fact, its shifting shoreline has made matters worse.
Yet despite these limitations, the island is coveted by the countries around it. Peru and Colombia have argued over who the island belongs to for decades. As the Amazon River moves, so too does the international boundary between the two countries.
The main channel of the Amazon River constantly erodes existing land and deposits new earth. Each year the river carries roughly 1.2 billion tons of sediment from the Andes toward the Atlantic, reshaping its banks and islands as it flows. During high-water months, water spills over and settles across the floodplain, leaving behind up to 12 inches of fresh soil annually.
Residents who have lived in the Basin for a long time are used to the seasonal ebb and flow of the water and land, but it’s becoming less predictable.
Read more at the link in our bio.
📷: Santiago Ruiz/AFP/Getty Images; Luid Acosta/AFP/Getty Images/File
The UK construction sector has accelerated its push towards sustainable construction as government investment in domestic heat pump production rises to £90 million. The expansion of the Heat Pump Investment Accelerator scheme supports a rapid scale-up in low carbon building technology and reflects growing commitment to environmental sustainability in construction. By enabling a broader rollout of affordable, energy-efficient buildings, the initiative strengthens national progress toward net zero carbon buildings and aligns with the Clean Heat Mechanism’s upcoming sales mandates for heat pump installations. These measures reinforce the integration of low carbon design principles and life cycle cost planning across building projects, signalling a long-term shift in resource efficiency in construction.
The UK Green Building Council has introduced a new framework designed to simplify embodied carbon measurement during early-stage sustainable building design. This essential resource allows architects and developers to undertake more precise whole life carbon assessment and lifecycle assessment from initial concept to completion. As embodied carbon in materials becomes a central factor in environmental product declarations (EPDs), the new standard provides a foundation for data-driven carbon footprint reduction. It promotes consistency in sustainable material specification and advances the use of low embodied carbon materials, supporting the shift toward carbon neutral construction and net zero whole life carbon strategies.
Vital Energi’s Rawcliffe Bridge solar farm demonstrates how renewable energy infrastructure is becoming embedded in local green construction strategies. Commissioned by East Riding of Yorkshire Council, the project represents practical eco-design for buildings and communities, embodying the principles of circular economy in construction. By integrating green infrastructure within regional development, the sector moves closer to resilient, sustainable urban development models that couple decentralised power generation with low-impact construction. These projects enhance end-of-life reuse in construction and exemplify circular construction strategies designed to reduce the carbon footprint of construction at scale.
In heavy industry, the UK government has announced a £420 million support package for energy-intensive manufacturers such as cement and steel producers. Substantial discounts on network charges are intended to lighten the cost burden of decarbonising the built environment while preserving competitiveness. Energy efficiency incentives are crucial for improving building lifecycle performance in materials production and encouraging adoption of green building materials across supply chains. Such interventions contribute to the wider framework of whole life carbon reduction and demonstrate how life cycle thinking in construction is becoming central to national policy for a low carbon economy.
At the project level, the progression of new facilities such as the GAP Alba plant illustrates the importance of patience and precision when implementing sustainable building practices. Each operational milestone supports the broader ambition of achieving net zero carbon outcomes through sustainable design and eco-friendly construction. The cumulative effect of these developments is a more systematic and technically grounded approach to green building products and construction processes. Together, innovations in embodied carbon tracking, renewable building materials, and circular economy principles are reshaping environmental sustainability in construction and reinforcing the foundation for a cleaner, more resource-efficient built environment.
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