For decades, Latin America has been the most unequal region on the planet. Furthermore, it is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, despite the fact that its total emissions represent approximately 8.3% of global emissions. This is especially evident in strategic areas such as the Amazon and Central America, crucial for the control of productive and energy resources. There is a clear asymmetry between emissions and the way in which vulnerabilities are generated and perpetuated in the region.
Various studies reveal that impoverished populations are more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, while also emitting less carbon than higher-income groups. Oxfam’s 2020 analysis of carbon inequality showed that the richest 10% of the world’s population is not only responsible for 46% of the growth in emissions between 1990 and 2015, but will also use up the remaining carbon budget by 2030.
Simply acknowledging an unsustainable development model is no longer enough. It is imperative to acknowledge the existence of a climate debt that divides developed and impoverished countries. This debt also manifests itself internally within countries, reflecting growing inequality, which is expressed in social and environmental impacts distributed asymmetrically among the population, such as heat waves and droughts. Furthermore, it manifests itself in unequal access to common goods such as water and land. Finally, it is evident in the injustices related to financing and remediation responsibilities. It is time to address these issues head-on.
Asymmetry of Impacts
The OCHA Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean has emphasized that climate events are increasing risks and vulnerability precisely in places where poverty, inequality, food shortages, and violence are concentrated. These factors, combined with factors such as forced displacement and the actions of extractive industries, are affecting the ability of local populations to adequately prepare for and respond to the current climate emergency. This situation particularly affects women and girls, who also face differentiated risks and attacks, often aimed at undermining their leadership and the exercise of their rights.
Furthermore, thousands of people suffer from moderate or severe food insecurity in Latin America. Extreme weather events, such as droughts and high temperatures, are affecting crops and soil yields. Hunger in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua increased from affecting 2.2 million people in 2018 to nearly 8 million in 2021. According to the World Food Program, this increase was related to the COVID-19 crisis, but also to extreme weather factors. It is worth remembering that the impact of Hurricanes Eta and Iota affected around 9 million people and caused approximately $1.4 billion in property damage in Central American countries and Mexico.
Unequal Access to Common Goods
Access to a vital resource like water is also severely affected by the climate crisis. Deforestation, overexploitation, land-use changes, expanding urbanization, intensive productive activities (such as industrial agriculture and livestock farming), and mining all contribute to water stress in the region.
Water stress and the resulting droughts tend to exacerbate inequalities related to access to water. Research conducted for the period 1970–2019 indicates that approximately $28 billion was lost due to droughts in the region. Water stress also has a significant impact on energy, as more than half of the region’s electricity comes from hydroelectric plants.
The city of Lima, with a population of more than 10.2 million, is one of the driest cities in the world, with rainfall of less than 15 mm per year. It is supplied primarily by the watersheds of the Rímac (at whose headwaters a mining project is currently underway), Chillón, and Lurín rivers, which originate in the snow-capped mountains and glaciers of the Andes Mountains. These rivers have shrunk by 43% in the last 40 years as a result of glacial melting caused by rising temperatures. Recently, we have experienced water and electricity shortages in major cities such as Bogotá and Quito.
Financing and Repair Responsibilities
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned that the impacts of extreme hydrometeorological events will become increasingly frequent and intense. As a result, losses and damages are increasing exponentially. These losses affect crops, infrastructure, and even human and animal lives, whose livelihoods and rights are being diminished.
Although the Paris Agreement recognizes the importance of preventing, minimizing, and addressing loss and damage, progress in this regard to date has been limited by the limited commitment of developed countries to accountability and financing.
Financing—when provided—has been in the form of aid, mainly insurance, humanitarian assistance, and loans. But this aid is voluntary, based on charity, and often based on the self-interest of existing investments or businesses in impoverished countries. We know that many companies and businesses in developed countries use various “corporate accountability” mechanisms to cover up their actions and impacts on affected territories.
The debate surrounding loss and damage defends the need for reparations by developed countries. It is based on the need for the fund adopted in international negotiations and currently under the responsibility of the World Bank to act on the principle of justice: those who have contributed most to the emergency situation owe a debt to the countries and communities least responsible and most affected by the current climate crisis.
