Guatemala received financing for $250 million to help the government prepare, supervise, strengthen and monitor its national climate change agenda.
A focus of the country’s climate change agenda is to develop a methodology for offsetting greenhouse gas emissions. The program also includes a pilot project for energy efficiency. Attention to climate change is critical for Guatemala, one of the 10 countries most vulnerable to climate change in the world. It is also the fourth most vulnerable to natural disasters, according to the United Nations.
So far this year Guatemala has been affected by the eruption of the Pacaya volcano, tropical storm Agatha, and the wettest rainy season of the last 60 years. These events have claimed 235 lives, forced the evacuation of 208,000 people, destroyed nearly 15,000 dwellings, caused major damage to road and threatened the food security of thousands of families.
