29 Aug
2006 - London, UK – As the United States marks
the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina today,
a new report from a coalition of the UK’s biggest
environment and development groups, including
WWF, focuses on the impact that extreme weather
and climate change are having on the Latin America
and the Caribbean region.
The report, Up in Smoke? Latin
America and the Caribbean, catalogues the impact
of climate change and environmental degradation,
confirming that largely regular and predictable
temperature and rainfall patterns are changing,
becoming less predictable and often more extreme.
“Climate change impacts are
being felt across Latin America, ranging from
drought in the Amazon to floods in Haiti, from
vanishing glaciers in Colombia to hurricanes,
not only in Central America but even in southern
Brazil,” said Giulio Volpi, WWF’s Climate Change
Coordinator for Latin America. “Across the region
the capacity of natural ecosystems to act as buffers
against extreme weather events is being undermined,
leaving people more vulnerable."
According to the report, climate
change will have major economic impacts on fisheries,
coral reefs, tourism, water availability and agriculture,
and could increase the impacts of already serious
chronic malnutrition affecting a large sector
of the Latin American population.
"Global warming is already
affecting Latin America and the Caribbean, threatening
disastrous impacts on nature and people, particularly
on poor communities," added Volpi. "Latin
American leaders must do their fair share to fight
climate change."
In particular, the report calls
on Latin American governments to prevent climate
altering emissions by committing to a solid set
of policies to reduce climate vulnerability in
the short, medium and long-terms, as well as launch
an ambitious climate change initiative boosting
both energy efficiency and renewable energy and
halting deforestation, to meet energy, environmental
and climate security.
Giulio Volpi, Latin American Climate Change Coordinator
Martin Hiller, Communications Manager
