It is time to consolidate green growth in Latin America

Students in a garden in Belize. World Bank

Latin America and the Caribbean is moving towards recovery after the covid-19 crisis, while facing challenges in critical areas such as infrastructure, education, innovation and investment financing.

The shift towards more sustainable economies and the impact of climate change also create new challenges and opportunities.

The region has huge comparative advantages for green growth and the creation of new industries and exports.

It also has the potential to develop renewable energies, large resources of lithium and copper -used in green technologies- and abundant natural capital.

According to a new World Bank report, it is necessary to adapt to climate change and take advantage of these opportunities to grow in a diversified and sustainable way.

This will require improvements in the regional capacity to identify, adapt and implement new technologies.

The report lays out a mix of policies that can help harness the opportunities that green growth brings.

These include:

• Setting prices that promote the adoption of current low-carbon technologies.

  
  

• Verification mechanisms that enable green price premiums.

  
  

• Improved systems to identify and adopt technologies that mitigate the region's impact on the climate and help it adapt, while taking advantage of its natural advantages to grow.

  
  

• Commitments in terms of policies, long-term plans, complementary investments and risk reduction mechanisms, which accelerate the adoption of growth-promoting technologies while adapting to and mitigating climate change.

Next, William Maloney, Chief Economist for Latin America and the Caribbean at the World Bank, talks with leaders of the region about the report "Consolidating the Recovery: Seizing the Opportunities for Green Growth," which analyzes the growth prospects for the region and green opportunities available.

Cecilia Martínez Gómez

is a communications consultant for the World Bank.