Low-Carbon Development : LatinAmerican Responses to Climate Change

de la Torre, Augusto ; Fajnzylber, Pablo ; Nash, John

World Bank

关键词: AFFORESTATION;    ALLOWANCES;    ALTERNATIVE ENERGY;    AMOUNT OF EMISSIONS;    ATMOSPHERE;   

DOI  :  10.1596/978-0-8213-8054-3
RP-ID  :  51281

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Climate change is already a reality.This is evidenced by the acceleration of global temperatureincreases, the melting of ice and snow covers, and risingsea levels. Latin America and the Caribbean region (LCR) arenot exempt from these trends, as illustrated by the changesin precipitation patterns that are already being reported inthe region, as well as by observations of risingtemperatures, the rapid melting of Andean tropical glaciers,and an increasing number of extreme weather events. The mostimportant force behind climate change is the risingconcentration of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the earth'satmosphere driven mainly by manmade emissions of carbondioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases. Because of inertiain the climate system, the planet is likely to continuewarming over the twenty-first century, and unless emissionsare significantly reduced, this process could accelerate,with potentially very serious consequences for nature andmankind. There is still, however, a high degree ofuncertainty regarding the specific drivers, timing, andimpact of global climate change, as well as about the costsand efficacy of actions aimed at either mitigating it ordealing with its physical and economic impacts. As a result,it is very hard, at this point, to unambiguously determineeconomically efficient emission pathways for which thebenefits of actions to mitigate climate change will exceedthe costs of those actions. Despite these problems anduncertainties, there is increasing evidence suggesting thaturgent action is needed in order to alter current emissiontrends so as to avoid reaching GHG concentration levels thatcould trigger large and irreversible damages. Negotiationsare under way and are scheduled to be concluded in 2012 witha new agreement on a way forward. At the same time,individual countries are also considering how to respond intheir own domestic policy to the challenges of climatechange. LCR governments and civil society should be wellinformed about the potential costs and benefits of climatechange and their options for decisions that will need to bemade over the next decades as well as the global context inwhich these decisions must be taken. At the same time, theglobal community needs to be better informed about theunique perspective of the LCR, problems the region willface, potential contributions the region can make to combatglobal warming, and how to unlock the region's fullpotential so as to enable it to maximize its contributionwhile continuing to grow and reduce poverty. This reportseeks to help fill both these needs.