Climate Change, Resilience, and Environmental Justice in Latin America & the Caribbean

PLAC's fourth annual conference, "Climate Change, Resilience, and Environmental Justice in Latin America & the Caribbean," is being designed to relate to a number of UN Sustainable Development Goals. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the projected mean warming for Latin America to the end of the century ranges from 1 to 4°C. This warming, which has already been experienced through more frequent extreme weather events, including catastrophic hurricanes in the Caribbean, rising sea-levels and the retreat of glaciers, has major social, political, economic, environmental, health, and financial implications.

This conference aims to advance understanding on how the region is tackling these complex challenges:

Policies that have been or are in the process of being implemented for adaptation and mitigation

Trade-offs of transitioning to a greener economy considering the economic dependency on fossil fuels and mineral extraction

Socio-political, economic, environmental, health, and financial implications of climate change and how they will affect the development path and welfare of the region

Resiliency initiatives to overcome catastrophic weather related events and the protection of the most vulnerable populations

Conference presentations and activities will be planned to lead to Penn Community post-conference action and engagement to contribute to addressing these challenges.