29 May 2008: The World Bank announced a new
programme to address the impact of tropical glacier retreat in Bolivia, Peru, and
Ecuador. During the project launch in Lima, Peru, Carlos Felipe Jaramillo,
World Bank director for Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela noted that “Climate
change will heavily impact Andean countries’ economies, particularly the poor.
Adapting to climate change is crucial given the severe and irreversible effects
it will have on the region.”

The programme is supported by the Global Environmental Facility
(GEF), and will grant US$7.49 million, out of a total of US$33 million in
co-financing, to implement a set of adaptation actions to face climate change threats
in the Andes. The project’s specific objectives are: the effective integration
of the implications of glacier retreat into regional and local development planning,
particularly in glacier basins; the inclusion of glacier retreat impacts in
local development projects and programs; and the collection of data on glacier
dynamics to improve policy decisions. [World Bank press release, 29 May 2008] [Adaptation to the Impact of Rapid Glacier Retreat in the Tropical Andes Project]