Disasters and Climate Change in Latin America and the Caribbean: An Introduction to the Special Issue

This introduction seeks to provide context for the papers included in this special issue by drawing on the broader literature. Salient development challenges for Latin America and the Caribbean, which can be aggravated by climate change, are low economic growth, high poverty and inequality, and fiscal vulnerabilities. This paper summarizes some of the evidence on the economic implications of climate change with an emphasis on the evidence pertaining to Latin America and the Caribbean; and how the research papers included in this special issue provide answers for some of the relevant and remaining questions about this topic.