$100 billion required annually to implement key climate mitigation strategies

A new book to be released today estimates net additional costs of reducing emissions related to land use, energy and transport – the three main contributors to greenhouse gas emissions in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). A ninety seven percent decarbonization of the power sector by 2050 would require $66 billion in net annual investments. Furthermore, reducing agricultural emissions by fifty percent by 2050 would have an estimated annual cost of $10 billion whereas a widespread electrification of the transport sector during the same timeframe is projected to involve an additional expenditure of $30 billion per year.

Bending the emissions curve to achieve climate stabilization goals by 2050 and prevent further damage and losses associated with climate change represents significant mitigation efforts affecting both land use and energy. These efforts imply considerable changes in the structure of the region’s economies and patterns of natural resource use, a new book “ The Climate and Development Challenge for Latin America and the Caribbean: Options for climate-resilient, low carbon development ” published by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) reports.

These recent work is part of a study initially presented last year at the Rio+20 meeting. The complete study is a joint effort of the IDB, the Economic Commission of Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the World Wide Fund (WWF).

According to Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the analysis presents “a compelling argument for prompt action on climate change in Latin America, based on the analysis of the high costs of non-action, the lower costs of action via both adaptation and mitigation, and the local co-benefits to be garnered.

“Rajendra Pachauri, Nobel Laureate and Chair of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, indicated “a substantial contribution of this report is the outlining of specific paths (expressed as sets of actions) toward the achievement of a footprint of two tons per capita per annum in the region.”