Climate-Fragility Risk Brief: Latin America and the Caribbean
Publisher: adelphi
Author(s): Adriana Erthal Abdenur and Lukas Rüttinger
Date: 2020
Topics: Climate Change, Conflict Causes, Disasters, Extractive Resources, Public Health, Renewable Resources
Climate change is expected to have differential impacts across Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), a region encompassing ecological systems as varied as the islands of Central America, the Amazon Basin, the Andes and the cerrado, or central savannah plateau. While much of the region has been free from war for decades, conflict and violence are still present in many countries. Colombia and Haiti are post-conflict countries, and LAC as a whole is characeterized by exceptionally high rates of violence and murder, mainly driven by the expansion of organized crime and high rates of state violence. In addition, there are long histories of localized conflict around land and natural resources. And the region’s high rates of socioeconomic inequality shape how climate affects security in LAC, raising new issues about climate justice and climate-related migration. While debates about the links between climate change and security in LAC have just begun, the evidence is growing that changing climate patterns are already impacting the region. Rising temperatures and sea levels, eroding shorelines, and hurricanes and other disasters are a threat to the people of LAC today. These climate impacts exacerbate existing socio-economic problems such as inequality, poverty, and a lack of trust in government. Climate change thus acts as a “risk multiplier”.