Growing international uncertainty and complexity are provoking an increasing interest in studies of the future. Profound transformations in the world economy, climate change, and new technologies will ensure that the region’s future is inextricably connected to developments taking place beyond the borders of individual nations. To address these new challenges, the Inter-American Dialogue is working to support the development of strategic thinking in Latin America, using future and foresight studies.
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La directora del Programa de Energía, Cambio Climático e Industrias Extractivas, Lisa Viscidi, habló con CNN en Español sobre el cambio climático, sus impactos en América Latina y el nivel de compromiso de países en la región a esfuerzos internacionales para combatirlo.
The fires in the Amazon expose the very heart of the greatest collective action problem that humanity has faced, and it foreshadows harder battles to come. The actions of each individual country have consequences for the global climate, yet perpetrators are loath to make sacrifices when others, especially those with equal or greater responsibility, are not doing the same. The fact that threats of economic punishment seem to have shifted Brazil’s behavior suggests that a similar approach could be taken to address climate change on a larger scale. But it will not be easy, especially where the biggest emitters are concerned.
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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.
La decisión de no utilizar la OTCA parece ser política. El gobierno del presidente Nicolás Maduro en Venezuela intentó invocar a la Organización en respuesta a los incendios. Sin embargo, los miembros del Grupo de Lima [gobiernos de la región y Canadá que desconocen a Maduro] rechazaron este llamado y se convocó a la reunión de Leticia exceptuando a Caracas.
The fact that the US, the second-largest contributor to climate change, is not going to sign on to climate agreements and take action on climate change helps fuel Bolsonaro’s argument: 'Then why should Brazil?' It gives Bolsonaro the sense that Brazil doesn’t have to sacrifice its own economic benefits for the rest of the world; that the handling of the Amazon is really Brazil’s decision alone.
