The Paris Agreement rulebook has yet to be finalized in Glasgow. COP26 will have to ensure negotiations deliver on rules that will operationalize market and non-market mechanisms for the mitigation of GHG emissions, namely finalize Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.
A recent edition of the British magazine, The Economist, said that 2021 will likely be one of the coldest years of the 21st century (even though this has already been the hottest decade in history) as the international community has been unable to reduce emissions, which are driving global warming.
National development banks (NDBs) have historically promoted growth and development worldwide by supporting public policies and accelerating their targets. Nevertheless, there has been an important renaissance of NDBs in the last decade for two main reasons. Firstly, the 2007/09 major financial crises, and even more the COVID-19-caused crisis, led NDBs to significantly increase their lending, among other operations, in a counter-cyclical way, contributing to saving jobs and companies, as well as supporting a sustainable economic recovery.
Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, which include, amongst others, sea-level rise, natural disasters, changing precipitation and temperature patterns with respective negative impacts on livelihoods, health, productivity, infrastructure, and food security. To further reduce poverty and inequality and to ensure sustainable growth, it will be essential to reduce climate change-related losses and increase coping ability.
The consequences of the climate crisis are being experienced around the world. From intense flooding in Turkey and China, scorching heatwaves across the United States, to deadly wildfires in Greece. Extreme weather events have become more intense and more frequent – and it’s only expected to get worse.
Earlier this week the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its sixth assessment report on the physical science of climate change.
Until vaccines or effective treatments are widely available, face masks, social distancing, and other nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) will continue to be Latin American and Caribbean’s frontline defense against Covid-19.
Many countries in the region have used strategically formulated information campaigns to try to boost compliance with NPI recommendations. According to advocates, such “nudges” are a relatively low-cost means of slowing the spread of Covid-19.
Peru has been severely hit by the pandemic and faces one of the deepest crises of the last 50 years. In addition to the highest mortality per person in the world, during 2020 the country suffered an economic impact equivalent to more than 20% of GDP (US$ 35.8 billion). Meanwhile, unprecedented heat waves in North America and floods in Europe remind us that another crisis threatens the well-being and economic development worldwide: climate change.
To achieve a sustainable, resilient, net-zero-emissions recovery and growth, Latin America and the Caribbean will need to undergo fundamental structural transformations in its type of growth. This includes accelerating the transition to carbon neutrality, reducing deforestation and promoting nature-based solutions, advancing the shift to electric vehicles, and encouraging investment in renewable energies.
Probably the most important trend in developing countries’ forest policy over the past several decades has been decentralization—the transfer of management authority from the national level to the states, villages, and local communities. More than a quarter of all developing countries’ forests are now managed by local communities, well over twice the share for protected areas.
Public consultations, the open events where projects are presented and discussed with the community and other stakeholders, have become a central milestone for the approval of certain projects and investments. As a matter of fact, many public and private investors have chosen to recognize the public consultation process as an essential corporate policy requirement, regardless of whether it is a local regulatory obligation.