Latin America’s clean energy sector emerging as global leader

But region still dogged by the politics of oil

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The Itaipu hydroelectric dam on the Paraná River between Brazil and Paraguay. Photo: International Hydropower Association. 

(Michael Molinski is a senior economist at Trendline Economics. He’s worked for Fidelity, Charles Schwab and Wells Fargo, and previously as a foreign correspondent and editor for Bloomberg News and MarketWatch.) 

LOS ANGELES (Callaway Climate Insights) — A new report last month by the International Energy Agency found that Latin America has one of the cleanest energy sectors in the world and promises to be a leader in alternative energy. That may be, but Latin America has also increased its production, consumption and global market share of fossil fuels, the chief driver of climate change.

All this news comes despite the fact that more than 200 countries signed an agreement last month at the close of COP28 in Dubai that they would move away from using fossil fuels.

Vast energy and mineral resources, as well as a history of clean energy leadership, “positions Latin America and the Caribbean to play an increasingly influential role in the global energy sector,” according to the IEA report.