(20 January 2010) The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) initiated a process of joint collaboration to produce studies on the economics of climate change in eight South American nations.
Through a cooperation agreement, the two institutions plan to carry out country and regional studies to raise awareness among decision-makers in the private and public sectors of these countries on the need to advance mitigation and adaptation initiatives.
With the collaboration of the IDB and other institutions, ECLAC will coordinate the technical assistance for these studies, which are due to be completed during 2010.
The cooperation agreement was signed by IDB president Luis Alberto Moreno and ECLAC Executive Secretary Alicia Bárcena during the XV Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 15) in Copenhagen.
The reports that will result of the economic analysis of the impact of climate change will include the following conclusions:
At the same time, ECLAC is working on similar studies for Central America and the Caribbean.
During the summit in Copenhagen last December, ECLAC released the report "Economics of Climate Change in Latin America and the Caribbean. Summary 2009", which concluded that if no international agreement is reached to mitigate the effects of climate change, the cost for Latin America and the Caribbean could be equivalent to 137% of the current regional GDP by 2100.
For more information, contact ECLAC's Information Services. Email: dpisantiago@cepal.org; telephones: (56-2) 210-2149.
