Contacts: In Barcelona: Sergio Jellinek (202) 294-6232 sjellinek@worldbank.org In Paris: Julia Barrera (33-1) 4069-3025 jbarrera@worldbank.org In Washington: Stevan Jackson (202) 458-5054 sjackson@worldbank.org BARCELONA, Spain, October 7, 2008—Countries in Latin America and the Caribbean will suffer greater than average effects of global warming, with devastating consequences for the environment and economy, and as a result are actively working to halt global warming and mitigate its effects, Pamela Cox, the World Bank’s Vice President for Latin America and the Caribbean, told the World Conservation Congress today. Given the region’s central role in the global ecosystem, repercussions from these effects will be felt worldwide unless significant action is taken soon to reduce global warming and mitigate its effects, according to a preview presentation of the flagship report from the chief economist of the World Bank’s Latin America and Caribbean region. “The region is only producing about six percent of global greenhouse gas emissions and just over 10 percent if we include deforestation. However, it is suffering already huge economic losses due to climate change,” Cox said. “Countries in the region and its citizens – and particularly the extreme poor - are the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. It is cruel and ironic that those people who are the least responsible for causing the problem are also the most vulnerable and the ones with least resources to adapt,” she added. Cox noted that the region includes five of the world’s ten most bio-diverse countries—Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru—and the single most biologically diverse area in the world—the eastern slope of the Andes. She added that more than 50 percent of the world’s tropical forests are in Latin America, along with 65 percent of tropical forest biomass. “Conserving these forests is critical not only for protecting biodiversity but also for sequestering carbon and mitigating climate change,” Cox added. Global warming’s effect on the region includes: - Glacier retreat: Many Andean glaciers have been retreating, and some of them could completely disappear over the next 10-20 years. In Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, glacier retreat could seriously affect seasonal water flows.
- Rainforest “die-off”: The Amazon rainforest may shrink by 20–80 percent due to temperature increases in the basin of between 2.0 and 3.0 oC. This could trigger “desertification” over vast areas of South America and even affect North America.
- Increased disease: The number of cases of malaria in Colombia increased from about 400 per 100,000 in the 1970s to about 800 per 100,000 in the 1990s. An increase in the population at risk from dengue is also expected in Mexico, Brazil, Peru, and Ecuador. An increased risk of infectious disease is also expected in Bolivia and Panama.
- Coral reefs in decline: “Bleaching” caused by warmer sea temperatures is devastating the economies of Caribbean islands (impact on fisheries and tourism).
In response, countries in the region are fighting global warming through “green” economic development, mitigation and adaptation strategies. Latin America has a cleaner energy mix than other regions in the world, with abundant hydropower and a relatively low reliance on coal. - In 2004, the region produced six percent of the world’s electricity but only contributed about three percent of electricity sector emissions worldwide. The main reason for the overall low carbon intensity is the large share of clean energy, principally hydropower.
- Hydropower represents 11 percent of the region’s primary energy demand compared to three percent for the developing world.
- Regional hydroelectric potential is approximately 687 gigawatts, of which only 26 percent will be utilized by 2015.
The region is a world leader in “sustainable transport.” - This includes bus rapid transit that mimics the efficiency of modern metro rail systems at a fraction of the cost, pedestrian-friendly urban centers, integration of bicycles for commuting, restriction of private vehicles on congested urban roadways, and urban and spatial planning that reduces transportation demand.
Brazil’s sugar cane ethanol is the world’s most competitive biofuel. - Sugar cane ethanol reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 90 percent when substituted for gasoline.
- It has a limited impact on food prices and land use-based emissions when grown in cerrados.
The region has several successful energy efficiency programs that could be expanded. - Successful programs in Mexico and Brazil could be scaled-up.
- Substantial potential in the region to improve energy efficiency including cutting energy demand in the short-term, delaying construction of new electric generating capacity, increasing competitiveness by lowering production costs, and reducing fossil-fuel consumption and the emission of local pollutants.
- Potential for efficiency improvements in the industrial, transportation, and energy sectors.
Meanwhile, adaptation programs are underway across the region. - Water desalination using wind energy, strengthened coastal infrastructure, coral reef recovery and a climate resistant management plan for national parks for St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
- Water, energy and agriculture adaptation projects in the Andes (Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru).
- World Bank-supported network of climate monitoring in the Caribbean, on glacial basins in the Andes, and the Colombian paramos.
Recently the Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank endorsed two Climate Investment Funds (CIFs) and an a group of donors ranging from the US, Japan, UK, Germany, France and other European countries pledged more than US$6 billion. The new international investment instruments are designed to provide scaled-up funding on climate action in developing countries. |
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