This year sees election fever sweeping across Latin America as electorates head to the ballot box in over half a dozen countries including Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Honduras for presidential, legislative and constitutional votes.

As the Copenhagen climate change negotiations edge closer, there is concern the elections could jeopardise both Latin American governments’ willingness to participate and to act effectively on the agreement. With the negotiations running from early December, Bolivia and Chile for example, may struggle to give it their full attention, as their presidential elections fall at the same time as the conference. 

Climate risks are yet to be fully integrated into the development agenda, and without any sustained media attention on global warming and its impacts in the region, it is questionable whether aspiring politicians will campaign on this issue or deal with it in time once elected before Copenhagen.

Interest in climate change and the conference could be purged as fresh presidents and legislators embark on a wholesale revamp of government departments effectively cutting the legs off any momentum secured so far. Further confusion and indifference might become institutionalised as governments strapped for cash resort to their favourite past time of bleeding environment ministries dry.

Next year presidential elections will take place in Brazil, Colombia Costa Rica and Suriname. Those currently in power looking to be re-elected or to field candidates may be wary that signing a Copenhagen treaty could be used as a political weapon against them. Any legal requirements created to limit emissions and therefore challenge ‘business as usual’ could effectively hand a poisoned chalice to their prospective candidates prior to the elections.

However, the growing evidence of climate impacts in the region over the short term, demonstrated by the rapid melting and disappearance of glaciers, dictates the need to include climate change policies within election manifestos and to make the case for restructuring economies towards low carbon growth.

This policy discussion should entail creating a new vision for national and regional development by outlining the opportunities and risks linked with global warming. By bring together climate policies with broader development concerns relating to jobs, health, security, energy and the sound management of natural resources, politicians can connect with voters on global warming.

Elections are a vital part of democratic renewal. But there is a chance they could undermine Latin America’s interest in signing a strong climate change agreement. It is imperative that climate negotiators preparing for Copenhagen are given the breathing space to continue their work and to ensure continuity resources are made available for those picking up the mantel.

Both the elections and the Copenhagen conference come at a pivotal moment when politicians and policymakers across the region are running out of time to lock climate change policies into the development agenda. Climate change is no longer a distant phenomenon and must take its place at the ballot box without torpedoing a Copenhagen treaty. 

This blog was first posted on Latino Cambio