A green and resilient recovery for Latin America

This paper assesses the green and resilient recovery for Latin America. As the world deals with multiple waves of the pandemic, Latin America has shown that inequality is its achilles heel in mounting an effective response. While the region has made significant progress in overcoming poverty and reducing inequality over the last few decades, it remains one of the most unequal regions in the world. This means not only are the poorest and most vulnerable in society are the most exposed to crises such as climate change, they’re also the least able to escape them. Climate related events, just as COVID-19, are expanding the inequality gap, and they continue to grow in frequency and intensity. Latin America will likely come out of this crisis poorer and with higher income inequality, and thus more vulnerable to ensuing climatic events.

The paper concludes with the following key recommendations for a resilient recovery for Latin America:

• A resilient recovery must reduce inequality;
• Stimulus packages should focus on direct benefits to people, and address infrastructure gaps to meet the Sustainable Development Goals with shovel-ready projects that mobilize investments and create jobs;
• Invest in resilient infrastructure and reap the benefits of protecting the paybacks they produce;
• Leverage the financial system to mobilize private capital towards resilience;
• Accelerate the development of nature-based solutions and of green resilient infrastructure;
• Improve governance and public policies aligned with strengthening resilience and addressing structural challenges;
• MDBs and the IMF must walk the talk on climate finance during the recovery.