Sostenibilidad

How can businesses, large and small, make their supply chains more climate resilient and simultaneously more profitable?  Almost any supply chain, but particularly those that are dependent on natural resources, will experience the impacts of a changing climate in all its parts.

“We will reach a point in the next years where we won’t have water for the population, nor for the industries or businesses”. This somber forecast by Alfonso Martinez Muñoz, Undersecretary of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of the State of Nuevo León, has propelled a collaboration among a range of stakeholders in the city of Monterrey to come up with solutions to better manage the water supply.  Monterrey is located in the state of Nuevo León, where dry and semi-dry climates predominate, making it highly vulnerable to scarcity or lack of water.

Normally when designing operations at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), we analyze the institutional capacity of the executing agency and corresponding national authorities in order to mitigate environmental and social risks. But, is it possible that we’re keeping local authorities and communities –who are the first to feel the impacts and to supervise mitigation measures– in the dark?

Can climate change have an impact on Latin American and Caribbean jobs? Although they might seem as unrelated matters, the reality is that climate change has the potential to disrupt labor markets in the region both directly (through events such as floods, hurricanes, heat waves, and changes in precipitation patterns) and indirectly (through changes in regulations and policies meant to fight climate change, such as green taxes or emission reduction policies). The good news is that evidence suggests that transitioning to a zero-carbon economy will result in a net creation of jobs.

Cattle ranching has been put on the hot seat, accused mainly of greenhouse gas emissions, as well as its impact with respect to soil degradation on marginalized lands, and deforestation. On the other hand, the meat that comes from cattle ranchers can be part of a balanced diet, offering worthwhile nutritional benefits for overall health.

Every year before Lent, Carnival takes place—sadly for no more than just a few days. During the previous twelve months, communities self-organize to make sure that everything will work out perfectly. What we see as a show is the tip of the iceberg of an admirable collective effort towards a common goal.

The Paris Agreement belongs to everyone says Costa Rica’s Christiana Figueres, one of the chief architects of the deal. That’s why 20,000 diplomats, multilateral development bank officials, researchers, activists, business and religious leaders, journalists and ministers met recently at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 23) in Bonn, Germany.

The need of sustainable infrastructure development is urgent and even more in a region where climate change impacts are a clear threat. Luckily, the Latin American and Caribbean countries have made strong climate change commitments that could drive sustainable infrastructure investments. And new opportunities are emerging to help the region lead the way.  Let’s see how In Paris, countries committed to keeping temperature rise well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels.