Mexico, Latin America, and the whole world have beautiful landscapes, of spectacular biodiversity, that make this planet called green-blue unique; from a time to here "The environment" is a topic that has been widely spoken and will continue to be done, because it is worrying to see how species are gradually dying out, landscapes are disappearing, soils are wearing down, climates are extreme, and for all this, the world population must constantly adapt in order to survive all these changes.
Climate change exacerbates soil degradation and desertification. Planning strategies to deal with degradation require estimates that are very precise; therefore, current measurement methods incorporate expert opinions on social and economic issues as well as data obtained by remote sensors.
The wear and tear that the environment has presented undoubtedly affects our entire environment in a very important way, so much so that now we can say that our planet is vulnerable, and that is why we must adopt measures and strategies that help us overcome all these problems and also help us to adapt.
Before continuing, it is necessary to make clear the concepts that will be handled throughout this essay, therefore we will begin by defining the concept of "Climate change".
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) defines it as:
"A change in climate attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and that adds to the natural variability of the climate observed over comparable periods of time" (Article 1, paragraph 2 of the UNFCCC).
With this definition we can establish that climate change is the variation of the planet's climate with respect to the temperatures recorded over time.
On the other hand, the concept of “vulnerability” according to the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR 2009), defines vulnerability as the characteristics and circumstances of a community, system or that makes them susceptible to the damaging effects of a threat.
And finally we will define, “adaptation”, according to the UN, adaptation refers to the adoption of policies and practices to prepare conditions to face the effects of climate change, admitting that at the moment it is impossible to avoid it altogether.
Now, it is important to analyze the impact of climate change in Mexico and Latin America, they must ask themselves, Why Latin America ?, as it turns out that this is a tropical area with greater changes in precipitation and temperature in future climate projections1 and it is one of the regions with the most consistent signal towards drier conditions in future climate scenarios.
The observations of meteorological stations in Latin America during the last decades of the last century show an increase in the average temperature of the region, an increase in the maximum and minimum warm extremes, and a decrease in extreme cold events; as well as the significant degradation that the soils are having not only in Latin America, but throughout the world.
Climate change in Latin America, adaptation, actions and policies
Climate change represents one of the greatest challenges that humanity will have to face during the 21st century, the impacts that CC (Climate Change) has in Latin America are significant, especially in sectors that are important in that region such as the agricultural sector, health sector, tourism, in urban infrastructure, in biodiversity and ecosystems, among others.
Climate change in Latin America, adaptation, actions and policies
In addition, there is a high vulnerability of Central America and the Caribbean against the increase in extreme events that are expected to occur with CC; The figure above shows a compilation of the possible impacts of climate change projected to 2050 for Latin America, and within the investigation the disappearance of mangroves, the increase in arid zones, loss of biodiversity, etc. were detected.
The environment is such a broad topic and we also depend on it, that all the actions we take seriously impact it, this is a cycle that although we want to close it we cannot because we react too late to the requests that nature made us, for now, all we have to do is implement measures and strategies to counteract the effects and to create a certain shell so that we can endure these effects more.
Desertification is aggravated by climate change and vice versa; As extreme events in frequency and severity increase due to climate change, dryland degradation tends to increase, resulting in the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and a continuous vicious circle involving climate change and desertification.
In Mexico, deforestation and soil changes follow different trends than they should. In Mexico, the National Institute of Statistics (INEGI) has produced in the last 10 years the mapping of Land Use and Vegetation at a scale of 1: 250,000; what has allowed to have the evaluation of the state of the natural resources.
Mexico presented a report in 2005 to the FAO on the evaluation of world forest resources, and 69.1 million hectares of forests were reported in the year 1990 and 65.5 million hectares in 2000, representing a total loss of 3.6 million hectares in the mentioned period.
In Mexico, the most vulnerable regions are located in the southern part of the country over the states of Oaxaca, Chiapas and Guerrero. In Central America, Guatemala and the eastern region of Nicaragua show greater vulnerability compared to Costa Rica and Panama.
In the Andean countries, the least favorable adaptation conditions are found in Paraguay, southern Bolivia and eastern Ecuador.
The following table will show the surface distribution depending on the degree of global vulnerability to soil degradation in Latin America:
If we observe the table in detail we will realize that within the most vulnerable countries are Brazil and Mexico, among others.
"Euroclimate"
Climate change in Latin America, adaptation, actions and policies
After all that has been presented, now it is necessary to analyze the policies that have been implemented to combat these damages, however it must be recognized that environmental and ecological issues were not a priority, and the United Nations was the institution that identified the grievances of climate change, the loss of biodiversity and desertification as the greatest challenges for sustainable development (UNCCD, 2012).
To counteract all these damages, international agreements were established where environmental issues are mixed with sustainable development. Some of these conventions are:
- The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) - its main objective is to stabilize concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at a level that prevents dangerous anthropogenic interference in the climate system. United Desertification Control Unit (UNCCD) - aims to “forge a global partnership to reverse and prevent desertification / land degradation and mitigate the effects of drought in affected areas, in order to support reduction of poverty and environmental sustainability ”:
On the other hand, incentives also function as financial mechanisms to incentivize environmental conservation, these include payment for environmental services, compensation for environmental services, among others. According to FONAFIFO, CONAFOR, MAE, payment for environmental services has proven to be capable of generating social and environmental benefits with a positive impact on soil conservation and on the improvement of the quality of life of the poorest producers.
Public policies and State regulation regarding adaptation to CC are also important because the market has no long-term considerations or environmental damage.
Policies that favor the conversion of natural ecosystems must be established, since they are the key to the provision of services such as water for human consumption, irrigation and energy.
But there are also barriers to these policies, such as the high frequency of personnel changes in government institutions, since it hinders institutional learning and the maintenance of intersectoral agreements and agreements with civil society.
Climate change adaptation initiatives in rural areas of a region are a key source of information for proposing viable and sustainable adaptation processes, validating the results of action research projects and putting value on local knowledge.
Countries located in Latin America have created social and environmental policies to mitigate ecological problems, however, as they are emerging countries or trying to become so, in their government agendas they favor more private investment by liberalizing the market for goods and services, trade and the maximization of income from the natural wealth of the countries.
Globalization is also part of the constant damage to the environment, perhaps indirectly, but it is still one more participant, because by making countries want to belong to this new phenomenon, they are more concerned with generating policies and strategies that allow them to be more competitive with other countries. And with this, they open their doors to trade and investments from other countries, exploit their resources, their soils, their rivers to the maximum, all in order to improve their productivity and be strong and competitive in a foreign market.
Although, the attraction of FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) is favorable for a country because it generates jobs, and promotes the flow of money, which encourages greater purchases, higher sales and therefore higher income, but allowing a factory or A company that enters your country can be devastating if we refer to the environment, since it is adding one more pinch of contamination to your territory.
The UNFCCC recommends that countries prepare a PANA, (National Action Plan for Adaptation), in order to identify activities that respond to the most urgent needs of a country's CC.
The elaboration of the PANA must comply with a participatory process that involves all stakeholders, particularly local communities, which is based on a participatory vulnerability assessment and a national and / or sub-national consultation to solicit input and ideas proposals..
It must be clear that land, water, ecosystems, etc., are the natural resources that people can use to develop their livelihoods. Financial resources are the money resources that people have or the resources that allow them to access it. Finally, the works built for social and productive support constitute the physical infrastructure resources, but when one resource receives more attention, the other resources are undercapitalized and the sustainability of the system may be damaged3.
It is true that if a country wants to progress and grow it must create policies that promote FDI and foreign trade policies, but you must learn to create a balance, because everything is important, nothing matters more than anything else, and if we neglect a sector it can that in the future it has a serious impact, as is the case of ecology.
The countries that depend on primary sectors such as agriculture, livestock, aquaculture, etc., are the ones that are most concerned about investing in the improvement and stability of the environment, because this is the basis for a country to be stable, not only economically if not physically, which is reflected in the health of the population, if more is invested in this sector, little by little nature will do its job and give us the fruits that we can dispose of, and with this, promote international trade, but always taking care not to exhaust natural wealth.
To conclude, nations should consider Franklin D. Roosevelt's phrase: “A nation that destroys its soil destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of the earth, they purify the air and give our people pure strength. ”
Governments and the population in general must become aware of how important the environment is, since it is a fundamental pillar for continuing to live with a good quality of life, if we pay you back even a little, nature will show us its fruits and greatness with full hands.
"The Earth provides enough to meet the needs of every man, but not the greed of every man." - Gandhi
Information sources:
- http://bookshop.europa.eu/es/deterioro-del-medio-ambiente-cb5VEKABstjOAAAAEj8pAY4e5L/http://www.euroclima.org/es/https://www.ipcc-wg2.gov/AR4/website/ 13.pdf
