According to the international report “Economic Outlook for Latin America 2022,” the Dominican Republic is one of the nations in the world most vulnerable to climate change because the vast majority of its population is exposed to unhealthy levels of air pollution. The Strategic Plan for Climate Change 2011–2030, which was adopted with the intention of decarbonizing the economy and enhancing capacity for environmental crisis adaptation, stands out among the measures the Dominican authorities have adopted to try to reduce this vulnerability as much as possible, according to the report.
The Dominican Republic’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per capita were 3.9 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2019, less than the average for Latin America and the Caribbean (6.3) and OECD countries (9.1), according to a study done by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the European Commission (EC), and the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF). Regarding the marine protected area, in 2021 it made up 18% of its territorial waters, exceeding the regional average of 7.3 percent and coming very close to the 18.6% of the OECD.
In contrast to the average for the region of 95.4% and 61% of the population, 100% of the Dominican Republic’s population was exposed to air pollution levels that endanger human health in 2019.