Santo Domingo, 22 July 2022 (TDI): The Dominican Republic hosted the UN Climate Change’s Latin America and Caribbean Climate Week (LACCW) from 18-22 July 2022.
The main objective of LACCW is to spread Climate awareness in the region. The event was organized by UN Climate Change in partnership with UN Environment Programme, UN Development Programme, and the World Bank Group. Other partners in the region are the UN Economic Commission for Latin America (UNECLAC), the CAF-Development Bank of Latin America, and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
Aim of LACCW
LACCW aims to engage and empower stakeholders to spearhead climate action in many countries and economies. This will therefore facilitate the advancement of climate action, addressing social inequalities and investment in development.
LACCW platform aims to explore: Resilience against climate risks; Transition to a low-emission economy; Partnerships to address pressing challenges.
Also read: UN reports on Latin America and Caribbean Climate week
Climate crisis in LAC region
Latin America and Caribbean region (LAC) has experienced the climate crisis for a long time. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report shows that the impact of the climate crisis will worsen. This is because of the region’s social and economic conditions such as high-poverty levels, inequality, and instability.
The region also experiences climate-change-induced weather patterns such as heat waves, wildfires, and droughts. LAC region also faces sea-level rise, coastal erosion, and a reduction in water availability. These patterns will negatively affect agricultural production. This in turn will also negatively affect food security in the region.
Almost 30 percent of the population in the region experiences destructive coastal hazards. The Amazon basin which is the world’s important terrestrial carbon reserve is also found in the region.
The region is home to about 57% of the world’s remaining primary forests. These forests store up to 104 gig tons of carbon. They also support up to 50% of the world’s biodiversity and a third of all plant species.
Although they produce fewer greenhouse gases than the United States, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, Latin American countries faces alot of droughts, hurricanes, and seasonal changes. According to the World Bank, in the next 30 years, 17 million people in Latin America will relocate.
 from 18-22 July 2022...read more){kind=link}