Getting to Net-Zero Emissions: Lessons from Latin America and the Caribbean

Abstract

The comments and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not reflect the views of the Inter-American Development Bank or its executive directors in any form, or in general those of the institutions the authors work with.The report was designed by Eveliz Jurado with support from Andrea García.1. Long-term strategies can help achieve net-zero emissions by around mid-century and guide the design of more ambitious NDCs

Achieving Net-Zero Prosperity: How Governments Can Unlock 15 Essential Transformations

“…The transition can be done with parallel and immediate action across sectors, chie y to replace fossil-fuel power plants with renewables ones; electrify transport, buildings, and other energy uses as much as possible; replace individual cars with public transport, biking and walking; upgrade agriculture practices; stop deforestation and preserve and expand forests and other high-carbon ecosystems such as peatlands; adopt healthy diets that reduce land used for food production; improve energy and material e ciency and transform industrial production by mostly replacing fossil fuels with low-carbon electricity, hydrogen, and synthetic fuels; and improve waste management by reducing waste, improving recycling, and introducing circular economy frameworks (Fay et al, 2015;Waisman et al, 2019;Bataille et al, 2020;DDPLAC, 2020;IDB and DDPLAC, 2019;IPCC, 2022).…”

“…Many barriers prevent the uptake of net-zero solutions. These include, among others, hurdles related to infrastructure, regulations, public and private nances, access to and capacity to act upon information, and political economy issues (IDB and DDPLAC, 2019). For instance, the absence of sidewalks and dedicated lanes and tra c lights can make walking and biking less convenient and more dangerous than private transportation in a car.…”

“…In Latin America and the Caribbean, diets are very heterogenous. The region hosts the countries with the highest beef consumption per capita in the world, at triple European averages and 50% above North American averages, as well as countries where poverty translates into food insecurity and inadequate levels of animal protein intake (Dumas and Vogt-Schilb, 2022;IDB, 2019). On average across the region, beef consumption is responsible for 55% emissions from agriculture and 60% of emissions from land-use change, while contributing only 4% of calorie and 12% of protein intake (ibid).…”

“…Lack of information (e.g., through food labelling) skews customer decision-making towards meat and dairy (Shangguan et al, 2019), as consumers are often not aware of the nutrition details and health impacts of di erent diets (IDB, 2019).…”