Perspectives from a Regional Working Group on Climate Change, the Environment, Peace and Security in Latin America
Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is a region of unparalleled ecological diversity, encompassing tropical rainforests, arid deserts, and expansive coastlines, making it particularly susceptible to the far-reaching impacts of climate change and environmental degradation. Beyond its diverse and unique natural landscapes, Latin America faces a complex web of climatic and environmental challenges that transcend national borders. Of particular concern is the way climate and environmental challenges intersect with social inequalities and political instability. Extreme conditions of poverty and social divisions are drivers of anti-social phenomena, and Latin America is a geographical area where social dynamics often work as a intermediate step between environmental challenges and crime. Criminal violence, including environmental crime, is largely concentrated in rural areas with poor state presence and strong illicit economies and in the poor neighbourhoods of cities. As such, the main victims of violence are the socio-economically poor and disadvantaged, including ethnic minorities such as indigenous and afro-descendant populations, gender minorities, women, and subsistence farmers.
In response to the pressing issues of environmental degradation and the alarming violence, often directed at environmental defenders, in Latin America, a significant milestone was achieved with the enactment of the Escuazu Agreement, which aims to achieve this through three principal objectives:
- Guaranteeing a right to access environmental information.
- Public participation in decision-making and access to justice related to environmental matters.
- Creating and building capacity.
This report represents the third edition in a series of regional climate security dialogues. These dialogues have been organized by SIPRI in collaboration with the regional offices of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in order to explore ways of more effectively incorporating climate change-related risks into peace and security processes within conflict-prone regions and to establish a unified regional perspective and voice on the challenges at hand. Each regional working group conducts up to four dialogues, which facilitate exchanges among its members, as well as various stakeholders and experts, including political decision-makers. The overarching goal is to stimulate fresh perspectives on regional, continental, global, and collective opportunities for action to comprehensively address and mitigate climate-related security risks.
This report presents the collective perspective of the working group on the pressing issues surrounding climate and environmental justice, as well as food security, that affect the region as a whole, but whose impact is most strongly felt at the local level.
These are extracts from one report, published by SIPRI in February 2024, that was authored by Caroline Delgado, Farah Hegazi and Anniek Barnhoorn. The full article can be accessed through the link here.