SUSTAINABILITY

Climate change. On August 9, the 195 governments that make up the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) approved a new scientific report on climate change in 2021. According to the report, Latin America will be vulnerable to the effects of climate change, experiencing temperature changes, increased precipitation and extreme weather events. In order to prevent this from happening, the document recommends “a strong and lasting reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases to limit the magnitude of climate change”. With this diagnosis in mind, some governments in the region, such as Panama, Chile and Peru, have recently implemented measures to reduce gas emissions, which could be extended to the rest of the region after the United Nations Summit on Climate Change in November.

The document assures that there is the probability of crossing the 1.5ºC threshold of global warming, established in the Paris Agreement, in the coming decades, unless there is an immediate large-scale reduction of greenhouse gases. In line with this, the UN Secretary General said that the report represents “a code red for humanity, the alarm bells are deafening and the evidence is irrefutable.” He argued that economies should become more inclusive and greener, and urged, ahead of the COP26 climate conference, all nations to join the net-zero emissions coalition and reinforce pledges to curb and reverse global warming through credible, concrete and enhanced Nationally Determined Contributions plans.

The countries of the region participated in the production and approval of this report. In line with these diagnoses, many of them are moving forward with concrete regulations to mitigate gas emissions. Panama opened a public consultation to create a National Carbon Market. This seeks to put into practice the country’s commitments regarding compliance with the Nationally Determined Contribution and the National Strategy for Economic and Social Carbon Development. The same happened in Chile where a similar text was put out for consultation, and where they aspire to have a similar measure in full operation in 2023. Peru also approved its National Environmental Policy to 2030, which includes measures to improve adaptation to climate change and promote the circular economy.

Next steps

Given that the report indicates that climate change is closely related to greenhouse gas emissions, it is expected that this will be taken into consideration by the governments of the region. It is expected that in the coming months, prior to the COP26 summit in Glasgow, they will evaluate possible regulatory changes to reduce emissions and deforestation and invest in renewable energy, especially in agriculture and the energy sector. Such measures could be pushed through in 2022.