Latin America and the Caribbean has the cleanest electricity in the world, thanks to the dominant role of hydroelectricity in our region. But the Paris Agreement should still matter to the region's energy ministers. Fossil power plants, particularly those burning natural gas, could be incompatible with the agreement’s goals.
International development practitioners have gained valuable insights over the years. One of the most impactful realizations is the need to increase transparency and engagement in the development process. For years, senior representatives from multilateral institutions have met regularly to discuss standards and experiences to ensure consistency of approach and share good practice in the areas of environmental and social standards. This dialogue exists among institutions to collectively raise the bar in terms of quality of practice.
With time rapidly disappearing to limit global heating to 1.5 degrees Celsius, scientists and decision makers agree that we urgently need more ambitious climate action. One of the key questions to emerge is: how can we go beyond incremental change and inertia, and aim instead for the transformation of our economies and societies? To achieve this transformational change, concessional climate resources have become a key tool.
Lupine (botanical name Lupinus mutabilis) is an edible plant that has been cultivated for centuries in the high Andes of South America; it is also known as lupine, chocho, tarwi or altramuz. Its impressive characteristics have been little disclosed, for example, its protein content reaches 47.7%, higher than the vast majority of legumes and the crop is able to enrich soils by fixing between 160 and 200 kg of nitrogen per hectare.
If you were a kid or teenager in the late 1970s and 1980s you probably danced to a music video on MTV and attempted an elaborate hairstyle inspired by all the trendy music movements: from the curly and bouffant ‘dos of pop stars like Madonna and Michael Jackson to elaborate, glam rock styles worn by Motley Crue’s Nikki Sixx and Slash from Gun’s n Roses. It goes without saying that in most households, the culprit of these elaborate hairstyles was a single, commonly found product: hairspray.
The process of public consultations with project stakeholders is one of the key elements to ensure project sustainability. Consultations can be a decisive factor in the success of the project that seeks to promote local development. In order to be effective, it is necessary for this process to be meaningful, but what does that mean? How do we guarantee its effectiveness? We can highlight five elements that make participation meaningful:
“Climate change and drug trafficking are the two main threats to global stability and security”
Danilo Medina, President of the Dominican Republic
Have you ever wondered what relationship exists between climate change and cash transfer programs? Did you know that through these programs you can fight climate change?
If you consider the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) as the skeleton of a project, the Analysis of Alternatives (AoA) can certainly be considered as the backbone. The AoA examines the feasible alternatives of a proposed project from different points of view: technical, financial, regulatory, jurisdictional, environmental and social.
In the Latin American and Caribbean region, infrastructure is critical for economic growth and improving human well-being, but poorly planned projects can cause significant conflicts. The nature of these conflicts is dynamic and multidimensional, often the result of the interaction of environmental, social, governance, and economic drivers over a long period. As the study we conducted with Harvard University shows, deficient planning, reduced access to resources, lack of community benefits and adequate consultation are the most prominent conflict drivers.