Shortages of water have worsened this year in locations including Mexico. // File Photo: Mexican Government.
Devry Boughner Vorwerk, Rebecca Keller, Thomas Rideg, Patricia Urteaga Crovetto
Some 70 percent of Mexico was affected by the country’s long-term drought as of July, up from about 50 percent in December, according to Mexico’s federal water commission, or CONAGUA. Water shortages in Mexico have also worsened amid extreme heat that is blamed on climate change. Meanwhile, Brazil is suffering from its worst drought in nearly a century and recently saw unusually damaging freezing temperatures, leading to soaring prices from crops including coffee and sugar. What are governments and the private sector doing in order to mitigate the effects of droughts in Latin America? What more should they be doing–both in the short-term and the long-term? How well have multinational efforts, such as the Inter-American Development Bank’s Water Funds Partnership, functioned in order to strengthen water security in the hemisphere?
What Is Being Done About Water Stress in Latin America? – The Dialogue
