Hard-hit by COVID-19, Latin America seen skimping on climate cash

(Reuters, 10 Jun 2021) Nations in the region have allocated some $318 billion to fiscal and stimulus measures, but only 2% has gone on climate initiatives.

Latin America is investing too little in a green economic recovery from COVID-19, with only 2% of the region's stimulus funds being spent on projects that help fight climate change, new data from Oxford University showed on Thursday.

Last year, 33 Latin American and Caribbean nations allocated $318 billion to fiscal and stimulus measures, but the tiny share spent on environmentally friendly initiatives lagged far behind the global average of 19%, according to data from Oxford's Global Recovery Observatory.

"Overall, the region's green spending does not yet match the severity of the triple planetary crises of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution," said Piedad Martin, acting Latin America director of the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP), which worked with the university to develop a regional tracker.

Preliminary data from the tracker showed a large proportion of the region's recovery budget has been spent on "unsustainable sectors", including ports and airports and on "environmentally negative" fossil fuel energy, UNEP said.

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Reuters, 10 Jun 2021: Hard-hit by COVID-19, Latin America seen skimping on climate cash

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