10 March 2009: The UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has launched a report titled “Climate Change and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean: A Review.” The report was released during a seminar on “Climate Change: The Challenges for Growth in Chile and Latin America,” which took place on 11 March 2009, in Santiago, Chile. The report concludes that Latin America and the Caribbean may suffer more impacts of climate change than other regions because of the number of island States present in the region, low coastal areas and prevalence of hurricanes. Considering greenhouse gas emissions in the region are relatively low (11.7% of global emissions in 2000) the authors recommend authorities to focus on adaptation.

Two other publications were presented at the event, namely: Development with Less Carbon: Latin American Responses to the Challenges of Climate Change (original title: “Low Carbon, High Growth”), by Pablo Fajnzylber and published by the World Bank; and a report on Climate Change and the Challenges for Economic Growth in Chile, published by the Chilean National Council of Innovation for Competitiveness. [ECLAC Press Release] [The Report]