Americas Quarterly

the

environment

square miles ( 6,000 square kilometers) of forests per year, an area roughly the size of West Virginia. This will also prevent the release of 4. 8 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent through 2018.

Farther north, Costa Rica— once one of the world’s most deforested countries—has become a global leader in forest protection, leveraging ecotourism and carbon dioxide mitigation to protect nearly two-thirds of its forests. The Costa Rican government planted nearly six million trees in 2008, and hopes to plant seven million in 2009 in an effort to reforest decimated areas.

Latin America can go even further to reduce rates of deforestation and requisite carbon dioxide emissions with U.S. support for domestic policies in Latin America and globally supported efforts such as “Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and

Forest Degradation” or REDD. U.S. legislation is likely to include provisions to build capacity to address deforestation and ultimately generate offsets. We must forge partnerships with key Latin American countries such as Brazil and Costa Rica.

Crucial to our success will be how we create market incentives for countries to curb their rates of defores-

tation. Carbon markets done right can be an opportunity to engage Latin American countries in a global agreement and provide additional incentives to reduce emissions. A study at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences found that with carbon prices near $10 per ton, REDD could protect enough forests to prevent the release of between one billion and 1. 8 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year.

This win-win effort would benefit both Latin America— by reducing their emissions and protecting their forests, and the United States—by increasing the availability of real carbon offsets and lowering the cost of emissions reductions.

Costa Rica, Mexico and Brazil are outstanding examples of how small and large economies alike throughout Latin America are adapting to new energy and environmental realities. Building on these efforts, the U.S. and Latin America can usher in a new era of regional collaboration based on shared climate risk and clean and renewable energy.

Seventeen years after the environmental summit in Rio, the U.S. must finally sign an international treaty and become part of a true global effort. We must seize today’s opportunity to cooperate with Latin America to fundamentally change the way the Western Hemisphere uses energy and to protect its forests and jungles. If we are to meet the challenge of climate change, our leaders and entrepreneurs must harness the commitment, creativity and shared need in our own hemisphere to deliver a cleaner environment, and security and sustainable development for our people.

The U.S. has promised to reengage with Latin America—and we should. Climate and energy should be the cornerstones for that new, improved relationship.