This year the United Nations celebrates its 75th anniversary. By the next time a similar anniversary comes around it will be 2095. We cannot wait that long to see whether the world has successfully limited global heating to 1.5 degrees Celsius and halted the collapse of biodiversity. We need strong action now.
The Covid-19 pandemic hasexposedthe fragility ofmany of ournatural and socialsystemsnot least thesituation of millions of informalworkersin Latin America and the Caribbean who were stuck between staying at home and losing their jobs orrisk goingto workand gettingill.
The UN General Assembly focused on Covid-19, the Sustainable Development Goals, inequality and the climate emergency. This agenda shows how deeply country priorities and the global agenda are connected. The good news is that countries can harness the global agenda to support a sustainable recovery at home while in turn this approach can help achieve the global goals.
The climateand ecological emergencies are not waiting for the pandemic to go away
The human cost of the pandemicis immense. To date, there have been over310,000 deathsin Latin America and the Caribbeanalone. Theeconomic fallout couldpush45 millionmorepeople intopovertythis yearcombined withthelossof17 million formal and 23 million informal jobs.
While emissions dropped significantlyfollowingworldwide lockdowns, they arealmostbackto pre-pandemic levelsshowing that confronting the climate and ecological emergencies cannot wait.
2016-2020 is expected to bethehottestperiodon record.Made worse by climate change, wildfires across the western United Stateshave burned2.7 million hectares.InBrazil’sPantanal,the world’s largest area of wetlands,wildfireshave razed an area bigger than New York Cityfollowing severe drought. And in Argentina, wildfireshaveburntmore than120,000hectaresand affected 11 provinces.
Climate change and ecological threats are also drivingmass migration.Natural disasters, water stress and food insecurity could cause the displacementof an estimated1.2 billion peopleby 2050.
Thisdestructive relationship with the climate and nature isendangering our health.Thenovelcoronaviruslikely jumped from wildlifereflecting adisturbingtrend withemerging diseases havingquadrupledover the last 50 years largely due to habitat fragmentation, climate change and land-use.
The UN’sGlobal Biodiversity Outlook 5reports that we are losing biodiversity at an unprecedented rate while pressures on species and ecosystems intensify.An estimated1 million speciesare now threatened with extinction unless deforestation, overexploitation and climate change are drastically reduced.LACfaces thehighest loss of species and habitats,which affects the provision of natural resources that contribute to livelihoods and ecosystem services that are essential for human survival.
To confront these interconnectedproblems, countries need a sustainable recovery
The pandemic is a wake-up call forall of ustoprioritize a recovery,which puts people and nature first. In the case of LAC,asustainable recoveryshouldprotect lives, reduce inequality, create jobs andstrengthen the system against future pandemics and climate disasters.
The region needs todevelop a shovel-ready pipeline of sustainable infrastructure projects that are labor-intensive andhelp get peopleback to work quickly. These projects include expanding renewable energy,makingsbuildingsgreener, boosting clean public transport and usingnature-basedsolutions.
Theevidencesupportsthisapproach.Recovery packages consistent with climate goals can lead to effectivemultipliersincludingjob creation,more investment and innovation as well significant co-benefitssuch as greater social inclusion and less pollution.
A new IDB and ILOstudyshowsthat the transition to a net-zero emission economy could create 15 million net new jobs in LAC by 2030in sectors such asagriculture and plant-based food production, renewableenergy,construction, and manufacturing.
Developing sustainable transportsuch as promoting electric vehicles andcompleting existing high-speed railway projectsin countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Colombiaand Mexico have an investment potential ofUSD2.6 trillionby 2030.
Holding40% of the world’s biodiversity, LAC can also capitalize on its natural endowment.Nature-based solutionssuch as mangrove restorationcan help to generate income, leverage private sector investment and protect criticalecosystems.Investments in natural capitalcanalsocreatejobs quickly. These investmentscancreate nearly 40 jobs per USD1 million invested over 10 times that from investments in fossil fuels.
What is LAC doing to support a sustainable recovery and achieve the global goals?
Various LAC countries are looking at a sustainable recovery to rescue their economies and lay the groundworkfora more sustainable and inclusive future while contributing to achieving global climate and biodiversity goals.
Chile’s Minister of Environment and COP25 president,Carolina Schmidt,hassaidthat updatingnationalclimate plans was a not a distraction to the pandemic but a guide to a sustainable recovery.Earlier this year, Chile announced a more ambitiousNationally Determined Contribution (NDC)and plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050highlightingthe need to tackleCOVID-19 and move towards sustainable and inclusive development simultaneously.
In2019, Costa Rica launched the region’s first national decarbonization plan to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. It is now using that plan to drive the recovery from the pandemic through advancing electric public transport and nature-based solutions in agriculture.
Jamaicawas the first Caribbean nation to submit anupdated NDCthis year, whichincludes a shift to cleaner energytoreduceair pollution andprotect lives.The countryismoving towards an economy-wide target by bringing emissions fromland-use change and forestrywithin its NDCfor the first time.With the island’s tourism sector having been battered by the pandemic,adaptation and enhancingresilience are central componentsofclimateplans.
Suriname has also stepped up with a revised NDC as well.Suriname’sNDCemphasizes the need for economic growth and diversificationwhile building resilience against climate impacts.Its new NDC pledges to increasethe goal for renewable electricity generation from 25% to 35%andmaintain 93% forest cover.
The IDB’sexperience workingin the regionontheNDCsand long-term decarbonization strategies demonstrates that development banks can play acrucialrole in advancing decarbonization andnationaldevelopment priorities via policy design, stakeholder engagement andleveragingfunding.
Despite facing enormous difficulties with the pandemic,LACcountriescontinueto advance with their commitments to protect the climate and biodiversity. Their own experiences,backed up by a growing body ofevidence fromaround the world,showthat action on these issuescan bea sound investmentfor buildinga more sustainable and inclusive future.
Under the Paris Agreement,2020is the year forcountries to submittheir revisedNDCs.Various LAC countries and others around the world areshowing realleadershipon the road to COP26 bylinking a sustainable recovery with global climate and biodiversity goals. Advancing them togethercan bea win-winfor all.
Further reading
Jobs in a Net-Zero Emissions Future in Latin America and the Caribbean
Long-term decarbonization strategies can guide Latin America’s sustainable recovery
Peru advances towards carbon neutrality with an ambitious, participatory and robust plan
Can nature support a green and inclusive economic recovery?
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Photo credit: Andrea García Salinas