President Donald Trump’s announcement on June 1 that the United States would withdraw from the Paris climate agreement was met with widespread dismay and fears that the decision would put the entire global agreement in peril.
As Latin America moves towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions and fulfilling its Paris commitments, it must also work to meet rapidly growing electricity demand, which is projected to almost double by 2040.
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With the fastest growing car fleet in the world, Latin America has reason to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles. Costa Rica, with its strong commitment to tackling climate change, is positioning itself to vastly expand EV use in the next five years.
IFLR speaks with Lisa Viscidi, director of the Energy, Climate Change and Extractive Industries program at the Inter-American Dialogue. Viscidi analyses recent developments in Latin America’s energy markets, particularly in relation to broadsweep energy market reforms in Brazil and Mexico.
Although electric mobility is at an early stage in Latin America, several cities have made significant advances. This new report addresses a number of critical questions about electric transportation in Latin America, drawing on case studies of six urban electric car and bus markets that have seen among the fastest growth in the region.
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At the Fourth Annual Latin America Clean Transport Forum on September 27, government officials, private sector leaders, and international researchers gathered in Buenos Aires to discuss the challenges and opportunities for electric vehicles and what global and regional lessons can be used to foster their growth in Argentina.
Electric mobility would bring a host of benefits to Latin America. Countries like Chile are taking the lead in adopting electric buses and promoting private use of electric vehicles. Yet hefty price tags and a lack of charging infrastructure are among the barriers that must be surmounted for widespread uptake in the region.
Brazil should build on its impressive efforts in renewable energy, clean transport, and deforestation reduction. But as President Jair Bolsonaro assumes power, one of the world’s largest economies is on the verge of relinquishing its role as an environmental leader and retreating from the fight against climate change.
The largest tropical rainforest on the planet, the Amazon plays a critical role as a storehouse of carbon and mediator of the global water cycle and holds a greater share of the world’s known biodiversity than any other ecosystem. However, unchecked development is placing the Amazon under threat, pushing deforestation rates to near-record levels throughout the region.
The emergence of China as a new economic partner presents trade offs for Amazon basin countries. Without special care to avoid and minimize ecological and social impacts, the costs of development run the risk of outweighing its gains.
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Deforestation rates in the Amazon River Basin have risen to near-record levels in recent years, threatening biodiversity and indigenous lands as well as global climate change efforts and weather patterns in the Amazon region and beyond. The lack of governance across Amazonian nations is a primary factor behind countries’ failure to stem forest loss, said experts at an event launching a new Inter-American Dialogue report on May 29.
Countries in the Amazon Basin are falling behind on their targets to cut deforestation. Environmental enforcement combined with economic incentives could provide a way forward, write Lisa Viscidi and Enrique Ortiz in this op-ed.
Over the past decade, many Latin American governments have made significant strides in developing domestic policies that have succeeded in reducing poverty and strengthening democratic institutions. Yet the impact of profound transformations in the global economy, climate change, and new information and communication technologies makes it clear that the region’s future will be inextricably connected to developments taking place beyond the borders of individual nations.
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As wildfires rage in the Brazilian portion of the Amazon rainforest, Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro finds himself under increased international scrutiny. Program Director Lisa Viscidi comments for BBC World News on Bolsonaro’s policies toward the Amazon.
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On February 2, the Embassy of Argentina in the United States and the World Resources Institute hosted an event at which Lisa Viscidi spoke about how the Biden administration could engage with Argentina, and with Latin America and the Caribbean more broadly, on areas such as clean energy, climate change adaptation, and conservation.
