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.
For the second time since 2013, the Inter-American Development Bank will be host to the International Association for Impact Assessment’s Special Biodiversity Symposium the week of November 13th. The theme of the event is “Mainstreaming the Mitigation Hierarchy in Impact Assessment” and some 200 practitioners will come together to discuss lessons learned, current trends, and new directions.
On November 14-15, 2017, The International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA), in partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), is holding a two-day special symposium on Mainstreaming the Mitigation Hierarchy in Impact Assessment in Washington, D.C., followed by two days of specialized training courses.
Earth Observation (EO) data is the most adaptive tool to monitor remote areas, where sampling onsite can be very difficult or even impossible. An overview of the same region can become available only through satellite information. Such technologies are currently being harnessed by the Environmental and Social Safeguards Unit of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), through collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA).
The Caribbean’s natural and infrastructural assets are vulnerable to natural hazards as well as the effects of global climate change, and all sectors –agriculture, tourism, manufacturing, housing – are at risk. The month of September 2017 turned out to be the most active month of any Atlantic hurricane season on record.
A few days ago I saw a drawing made by the son of a friend who lives in Mexico City after the second earthquake to hit the city this year. I was impressed for two reasons–first, how the child conveyed the closeness to his mother at the time of the tremor and how they were leaving their house with his belongings (toys); and second, how he managed to depict the shaking of the structure. Luckily, he was safe. But the 7.1 magnitude quake that struck that Sept. 19 took the lives of 37 other children who perished when their schools collapsed.
Paseo de la Reforma, Mexico City’s most emblematic avenue, has the worst soil when it comes to the foundation for buildings. Although an earthquake always has the potential to cause substantial human losses and severe infrastructure damage, this road sits on the ancient lake bed of the Valley of Mexico, and, as a result, its soil – notoriously soft and with a high-water content – favors the amplification of seismic waves. Mexico City’s geology is like a bowl of Jello. Try building something on it.