CHAMP Country Case Studies: Latin America

Latin America faces significant climate-related challenges that will change communities in unprecedented ways. Countries across the region are already contending with rising temperatures, shifting rainfall, and intensifying disasters. Chile has experienced multi-year droughts and wildfires that contributed to mass power outages and dozens of fatalities; Costa Rica and Colombia are faced with flooding, landslides, and sea-level rise impacting vulnerable sectors and low-lying communities. 

The region is highly exposed to the economic and social impacts of climate change. The InterAmerican Development Bank’s (IADB) institutional strategy to climate change highlights that Latin America and the Caribbean is one of the most unequal regions in the world and has experienced relatively slow economic growth over the last decades. Meanwhile, export markets and emissions are largely driven by agricultural products which are vulnerable to temperature changes and shifting rainfall. Subnational governments, corporate actors, national governments, and capital markets have a key role to play. Despite resource extraction, deforestation, and biodiversity loss continuing at unsustainable levels, the region has some of the most natural capital in the world. Financial markets are increasingly exploring avenues to better value nature and Landscape and Jurisdictional Approaches offer new pathways for public-private collaboration.

Development finance institutions are providing much needed capital. The IADB helped develop the world’s first sustainability-linked bond, for sovereign debt issuers, the Climate Investment Fund has approved close to US$1.5 billion in the region, and the CAF has a commitment to dedicate 40% of its financing to environmental and sustainability initiatives by 2026. 

National governments are also reaffirming their commitment to climate action and bringing subnational governments with them. As of October 2025, 7 countries in the region have formally agreed to better integrate local governments into national policy and finance strategies through their endorsement of the Coalition for High Ambition Multilevel Partnerships (CHAMP).