Latin American Science Action Plan

September 12, 2012

Latin America has made many attempts at changing their scientific fields of expertise. In 2005, legislation was passed to allow stem cell research by the Brazilian parliament, including human embryos. At this same time, generally modified (GM) crops were allowed to be planted and sold. This gave the National Technical Commission of Biosafety the responsibility of selling them. 

More recently, Latin America and the Caribbean have figured $100 billion by 2050 from diminishing agricultural yields, disappearing glaciers, flooding, droughts and other events caused by global warming. However, the cost of investments in adaptation for these impacts is much smaller. With forceful reduction global emissions needed, Bunge Limited decided to participate in the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) principle. This is a 30-year project that has begun, expected to reduce 1 million metric tons of CO2 every year. A study done by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Economic Commission of Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has estimated the countries would nee to invest $110 billion per year over the next 40 years to decrease these carbon emissions.

Along with this, Mr. Felipe Calderon, the President of Mexico, recently passed the General Climate Change Law.  With this enactment, approximately 30% of emissions are expected to be reduced by 2020. This is to be accomplished by creating several Federal bodies, including the National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change (INECC) in order to develop a procedure of climate change indicators and involve the national inventory of GHG emissions.

With all of these exceptional projects being put into place, unfortunately funding has been cut for the first time in eight years in Brazil, about $3 million since 2010. Therefore, the countries resources and means cannot compete with all of the prosperous nations that surround us, forcing many of our most promising researchers and students to emigrate for more opportunities.

As the Latin America Science Adviser, I am ordering a press kit to boost our media coverage and hopefully attract prospering students, scientists and researchers. This will include our history of science as well as what we hope for in the future, a couple of which I have touched upon at the beginning of this document. I am calling on the media for which we will create a press release on this matter. Hopefully, this will motivate the dwindling number of internal researchers to stay as well as bring in new members for a team. We need these members in order to reach our goal for the REDD and Climate Change projects/funding. With any luck, this will promote these new aspects of the Latin American science initiatives and we will gain some fresh minds from all over the world to join our teams and universities.

Myriam Adela