Latin America is not the problem but part of the solution
Posted on October 10th, 2008World Bank News: BARCELONA, Spain, October 7, 2008— Countries in Latin America and the Caribbean will suffer greater than average effects of global warming, with devastating consequences for the environment and economy, and as a result are actively working to halt global warming and mitigate its effects, Pamela Cox, the World Bank’s Vice President for Latin America and the Caribbean, told the World Conservation Congress today.
Given the region’s central role in the global ecosystem, repercussions from these effects will be felt worldwide unless significant action is taken soon to reduce global warming and mitigate its effects, according to a preview presentation of the flagship report from the chief economist of the World Bank’s Latin America and Caribbean region.
“The region is only producing about six percent of global greenhouse gas emissions and just over 10 percent if we include deforestation. However, it is suffering already huge economic losses due to climate change,” Cox said. “Countries in the region and its citizens – and particularly the extreme poor - are the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. It is cruel and ironic that those people who are the least responsible for causing the problem are also the most vulnerable and the ones with least resources to adapt,” she added.
Cox noted that the region includes five of the world’s ten most bio-diverse countries—Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru—and the single most biologically diverse area in the world—the eastern slope of the Andes. She added that more than 50 percent of the world’s tropical forests are in Latin America, along with 65 percent of tropical forest biomass.
“Conserving these forests is critical not only for protecting biodiversity but also for sequestering carbon and mitigating climate change,” Cox added.
Global warming’s effect on the region includes:
- Glacier retreat: Many Andean glaciers have been retreating, and some of them could completely disappear over the next 10-20 years. In Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, glacier retreat could seriously affect seasonal water flows.
- Rainforest “die-off”: The Amazon rainforest may shrink by 20–80 percent due to temperature increases in the basin of between 2.0 and 3.0 oC. This could trigger “desertification” over vast areas of South America and even affect North America.
- Increased disease: The number of cases of malaria in Colombia increased from about 400 per 100,000 in the 1970s to about 800 per 100,000 in the 1990s. An increase in the population at risk from dengue is also expected in Mexico, Brazil, Peru, and Ecuador. An increased risk of infectious disease is also expected in Bolivia and Panama.
- Coral reefs in decline: “Bleaching” caused by warmer sea temperatures is devastating the economies of Caribbean islands (impact on fisheries and tourism).
In response, countries in the region are fighting global warming through “green” economic development, mitigation and adaptation strategies.