In early November, Central American countries were hit by the tropical-storm Eta and then, just two weeks later, by Iota, causing massive damage and leaving thousands of people without homes forcing countries’ leaders to demand increased climate aid.
Central American presidents have emphasized that, while their countries are not among the main contributors to global warming which exacerbates and intensifies such phenomena as hurricanes, they nevertheless pay the highest price when they occur. This is why, in their opinion, developed countries that are mainly responsible for climate change should release financial resources to mitigate the effects of global warming.
The Honduran President, Juan Orlando Hernandez, said during a press conference in Tegucigalpa that his country had lost 7% of its GDP as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak and when the damages caused by hurricane season were added to this, it would create a “bomb that will leave the country and the region in a very difficult situation.”
“We in Central America aren’t the ones who cause climate change but we are among the most affected. The countries that have recognized they are the main drivers of climate change have the money available,” he added.
Hurricane Eta hit Central America at the beginning of November killing 150 people and forcing another 300,000 to leave their homes. The effects of Eta caused entire towns and cities in Guatemala and Honduras to be flooded as well in Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Belize, and El Salvador. Only two weeks after this tragedy, Central America was hit by an even stronger hurricane, Iota, which brought extremely strong winds and over 70 cm of rain. This accumulation of natural disasters severely hampered an effective humanitarian response. It is estimated that Eta was one of the worst natural disasters in Central America in the last 20 years and meteorologists have never before witnessed so many hurricanes in the Atlantic in just one season.
Central American presidents now want to push wealthy countries to launch financial help as quickly as possible through regional development banks. Furthermore, they would like to gain immediate access to international funds that are designed to help with the mitigation of global warming effects such as the UN’s Green Climate Fund. Alejandro Giammattei, the Guatemalan President, stressed that it is now very difficult to receive support from this source because of “tedious procedures, but hunger can’t wait.”
Although developed countries agreed to increase the budget of the UN Green Climate Fund to $100 billion a year, donors have so far only committed to pay part of this with Donald Trump announcing that the United State would contribute nothing at all.
In the face of the disasters that Central American countries are experiencing, the Central American Bank for Economic Integration has approved US$2.5 billion to support projects which aim to mitigate the effects of climate change and to prevent future disasters.
Regional leaders have unanimously stated that the only way to halt the wave of migration from Central America which has recently significantly increased and become even more serious, wealthy countries must make more effort to curb the natural disasters that occur as a result of global warming. This issue has become more urgent bearing in mind that the region is dealing with other challenges such as violence, drug trafficking, and extreme poverty which have forced many people to leave their home countries.
