Promoting low carbon transport technologies in Latin America and the Caribbean

Transport accounts for 35 percent of total CO₂ emissions in Latin America and the Caribbean. This is more any other energy sub-sector—and emissions have been steadily increasing since the 1970s. Moving the region towards low carbon technologies will have important benefits, both at a global and a local scale.

A three-year project, supported by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF), works hand-in-hand with governments in the region to identify and break down barriers for implementing low carbon transport technologies. The project takes a holistic approach to technology, focusing not only on the hardware, but on enabling factors like institutional capacity.

The project’s strategy includes three parts:

1. Close the region’s expertise gap by improving access to high quality and easy-to-understand knowledge products about low carbon technology implementation.
2. Develop technology roadmaps (TRM) that identify barriers for specific technologies in targeted cities and countries; and define objectives, timelines and responsible parties for implementation.
3. Provide technical assistance for overcoming specific barriers—technical, institutional, financial or political—to implementation.

With this strategy, the project aims to mobilize US $30 million in financing for projects and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 1,590,000 tons of CO₂ in the region.