The economic impact of climate events in the Caribbean is among the highest in the world. Improving the resilience of buildings is vital to increase preparedness to the impacts of climate change and is economically viable for many building typologies in high-risk Caribbean countries. Although resilient buildings generate long-term savings, in most cases, they come with … [Read more...] about Building resilience comes at a higher initial cost. How can we better finance it?
Carlos Henriquez Cortez
Carlos is a consultant on social infrastructure for the IDB's Infrastructure and Energy Sector (INE) since 2019. As a member of the Social Infrastructure Unit (SIU), he has worked in supporting the preparation and implementation of the Social Sector programmes in several countries in the region, such as Guatemala, Bahamas, Jamaica, Haiti and Honduras, among others. He specializes in hospital infrastructure and sustainable architecture. In addition, he is currently working on resilience and disaster risk management. Carlos is a construction professional with more than 20 years of experience. Previously, he was a member of the NGO Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) for 12 years, where he worked in countries such as Angola, Congo, Chad, South Sudan, Haiti and Afghanistan among others and also in MSF's headquarter in Brussels. During this period, he was in charge of different hospital infrastructure projects and participated in the conception, development and implementation of an innovative programme of modular and prefabricated structures pioneered by MSF. Carlos is a construction engineer and holds a master's degree in sustainable architecture from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia. Before joining the international cooperation he owned his own construction company in Chile, his home country.
The cost of (not) building resilient infrastructure in the Caribbean
We all know that to build more resilient infrastructure, we need to invest more; but how much more is enough? Our last blog showed that the Caribbean islands lose an average 2% of their capital stock in infrastructure because of climate-related events every year. This would be equivalent to having all the infrastructure capital stock in the Caribbean islands … [Read more...] about The cost of (not) building resilient infrastructure in the Caribbean
Is it worth it to invest in resilient constructions in the Caribbean? The answer is yes!
The Caribbean islands are among the 25 most-vulnerable nations in terms of climate-related disasters per capita or land area, and climate change is only expected to worsen this scenario. Only in 2020, there were 13 hurricanes in the Atlantic, second highest on record. In addition to human lives losses, these disasters take a deep toll on economic growth: in 2019, hurricane … [Read more...] about Is it worth it to invest in resilient constructions in the Caribbean? The answer is yes!