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Climate change in Latin America and the Caribbean: policy options and research priorities

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  • Brian Feld
  • Sebastian Galiani

Abstract

Although climate change is filled with uncertainties, a broad set of policies proposed to address this issue can be grouped in two categories: mitigation and adaptation. Developed countries that are better prepared to cope with climate change have stressed the importance of mitigation, which ideally requires a global agreement that is still lacking. This paper uses a theoretical framework to argue that in the absence of a binding international agreement on mitigation, Latin America should focus mainly on adaptation to cope with the consequences of climate change. This is not a recommendation that such economies indulge in free-riding. Instead, it is based on cost–benefit considerations, all else being equal. Only in the presence of a global binding agreement can the region hope to exploit its comparative advantage in the conservation and management of forests, which are a large carbon sink. The decision of which policies to implement should depend on the results of a thorough cost–benefit analysis of competing projects, yet very little is known or has been carried out in this area to date. Research should be directed toward cost–benefit analysis of alternative climate change policies. Policymakers should compare other investments that are also pressing in the region, such as interventions to reduce water and air pollution, and determine which will render the greatest benefits. Copyright The Author(s) 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Brian Feld & Sebastian Galiani, 2015. "Climate change in Latin America and the Caribbean: policy options and research priorities," Latin American Economic Review, Springer;Centro de Investigaciòn y Docencia Económica (CIDE), vol. 24(1), pages 1-39, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:laecrv:v:24:y:2015:i:1:p:1-39:10.1007/s40503-015-0028-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s40503-015-0028-4
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    Cited by:

    1. Sebastian Galiani & Sebastian Miller & Omar Chisari, 2016. "Optimal Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Expenditures in Environmentally Small Economies," Economía Journal, The Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association - LACEA, vol. 0(Fall 2016), pages 65-94, October.
    2. Ramón E. Key-Hernández & Claudina Villarroel, 2017. "Subsidies to the Energy Sector in Venezuela: the effects of their removal considering inter-fuel substitution," EcoMod2017 10422, EcoMod.
    3. Diniz Oliveira, Thais & Costa Gurgel, Angelo & Tonry, Steve, 2021. "Potential trading partners of a brazilian emissions trading scheme: The effects of linking with a developed region (Europe) and two developing regions (Latin America and China)," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    4. Li-Chen Chou & Wan-Hao Zhang & Meng-Ying Wang & Fu-Ming Yang, 2020. "The influence of democracy on emissions and energy efficiency in America: New evidence from quantile regression analysis," Energy & Environment, , vol. 31(8), pages 1318-1334, December.
    5. Daniela Aguilar Abaunza, 2017. "The Role of Renewable Energy in Meeting the Climate Change Targets in Brazil and Colombia," Books, Universidad Externado de Colombia, Facultad de Derecho, number 904, October.
    6. Diniz Oliveira, Thais & Gurgel, Angelo & Tonry, Steve, 2018. "The Effects for Brazil of Linking Emissions Trading Schemes in the context of the Heterogeneity of Trading Partners," Conference papers 332951, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Climate change; Adaptation; Cost–benefit analysis; Q52; Q54;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q52 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Pollution Control Adoption and Costs; Distributional Effects; Employment Effects
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming

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