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.
Después del anuncio de Trump, muchos líderes latinoamericanos condenaron la decisión de Estados Unidos de abandonar el Acuerdo de París y reiteraron su compromiso con los objetivos del cambio climático.
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.
Victoria Isabel Cardiel C. entrevista a Lisa Viscidi, la directora del Programa de Energía, Cambio Climático e Industrias Extractivas del Diálogo Interamericano, sobre la decisión de Donald Trump de retirar a Estados Unidos del Acuerdo de París y cómo afectará a América Latina.
Providing reliable, clean energy to Colombia’s growing population will be a tremendous challenge in the coming years, especially in light of the peace process with the FARC.
In spite of a steady economic recovery, low inflation and improving fiscal balances, Latin America is seeing weak private investment in energy and other sectors.
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Under President Juan Manuel Santos, the Colombian government has vastly expanded protected areas, creating new national parks and providing land titles to indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities in the Amazon, Chocó and other important forest regions. However, many challenges remain. National parks and indigenous and Afro-Colombian lands continue to be threatened by illegal occupation, coca cultivation and illegal gold mining.
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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.
Latin America faces many challenges in developing its energy resources and providing clean, affordable and reliable energy. With presidential elections in Brazil, Mexico and Colombia next year, there is considerable uncertainty about future energy policy, as potential candidates in these countries have presented widely varying energy and economic policy platforms.
Addressing Latin America’s transportation challenges requires an integrated approach that includes stemming the growth in demand for private vehicles through the improvement of public transportation systems and non-motorized forms of transport; raising the levels of fuel efficiency and fuel quality; and diversifying fuel sources.
The less than 3 percent of Colombia’s population that lacks electricity lives mainly in areas of the country that have long been controlled by the FARC and other armed groups, such as Chocó in the Pacific, La Guajira on the Caribbean coast, and Putumayo in the Amazon. Not coincidentally, Colombians without access to electricity also have higher rates of poverty, fewer basic public services, and lower education levels than the rest of the country.
El 29 de noviembre Lisa Viscidi, la directora del Programa de Energía, Cambio Climático e Industrias Extractivas, impartió una presentación en un evento de COMEXI en la Ciudad de México sobre la competitividad del sector petrolero en América Latina.
Energy continues to be a bright spot in the US-Latin America relationship and new developments, like an uptick in US LNG exports, offer opportunities to increase energy security and cooperation across the Western Hemisphere.
If the region increases renewables to 80% of the electricity matrix and expands integration, countries can save billions of dollars in investments, avoid blackouts and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, argue Lisa Viscidi and Ariel Yépez.
A new report by the Inter-American Dialogue analyzes the challenges to environmentally and socially sustainable development of the oil and mining sectors in Colombia and raises important questions for policymakers, such as where extractive industries should be permitted to operate, who should be responsible for oversight and how to make operations more environmentally sustainable.
