Latin
America and the Caribbean require comprehensive
environmental policies to guarantee the
sustainable management of their natural
resources
These new policies will
be documented in a series of reports entitled
"Latin America and the Caribbean: Environment
Outlook ? GEO LAC 3".
Panama, 14 July 2010
- In its soon to be released report, "Latin
America and the Caribbean: Environment Outlook
? GEO LAC 3", the United Nation Environment
Programme (UNEP) is warning that the region
needs to take a step forward to sustainably
manage its natural resources and effectively
counteract the forces that are leading to
environmental degradation.
This third report in
a series prepared by UNEP on the state of
the environment in Latin America and the
Caribbean notes that the greatest challenge
is to guarantee the development of environmental
strategies, the creation of bodies specialized
in the establishment of institutional and
legal frameworks, and the ratification of
international conventions.
The GEO LAC 3 study will
also highlight the positive efforts already
being carried out, for example, in Brazil
to stop Amazonian deforestation, in Uruguay's
energy strategy to encourage the incorporation
of alternative fuel sources, or payments
for environmental services such as those
done in Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico,
and Nicaragua.
The report points out
the urgent necessity of achieving consensus
that effectively promotes sustainable development,
integrates environmental considerations
and the value of ecosystems and environmental
services into development policy in the
runup to the Rio+20 meeting to be held in
Brazil in 2012.
According to the study,
some countries in Latin America and the
Caribbean have advanced in the transition
process towards an environmentally sustainable
economy. There are the experiences of Brazil,
a world leader in recycling, with a national
industry employing nearly 170,000 people,
or in the Caribbean Hotel Energy Action
Programme which encourages the implementation
of energy-efficiency practices in the tourism
sector.
Yet, in spite of these
advances, the environment in the region
does not receive the level of priority it
deserves. In addition to the limited existence
of comprehensive and cross-cutting environmental
policies, the GEO LAC 3 report emphasizes
the need to improve action, and coordination
between the countries of the region. It
also notes the importance of being able
to rely on quality data concerning the state
of the environment, and to increase the
level of investment for achieving environmental
and social sustainability, essential for
the continued development in the region.
According to the study,
greater prosperity and development in the
region depends on the joint efforts of national
and local governments, citizens and civil
society organizations which must work together
in a consensual manner to resolve the environmental
challenges facing Latin America and the
Caribbean.
The growing interest
and willingness to tackle environmental
themes is evident in the agendas of different
sectors ? national and local governments,
civil society and business organizations
and universities and research institutes
? and offers an opportunity to confront
environmental degradation and establish
the basis for advancing toward a more sustainable
model of development, the report stresses.
The state of the environment
in Latin America and the Caribbean
Climate change, loss
of biological diversity, environmental degradation,
emergencies caused by natural disasters,
water scarcity, and accelerated urbanization
that the region is experiencing make it
necessary to make urgent and decisive changes
in environmental management, according to
the UNEP report.
Historically, the drivers
of the regional development model have been
based in the production of food, primary
materials, and natural resources. This model
has generated economic growth, the study
notes, but also environmental degradation
and societal breakdown. The tendency toward
the concentration of income and an inequitable
division of the benefits of this growth
has led to Latin America and the Caribbean
being the region with the highest level
of inequality in the world.
The region possesses
great environmental richness. The six countries
(Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru,
and Venezuela) are among those countries
with the greatest biodiversity in the world.
Although promising efforts of environmental
protection have been launched, this rich
diversity is presently under threat.
GEO LAC highlights the
UNEP Green Economy Initiative
This initiative seeks
to accelerate the transition toward an environmentally
sustainable economy. Three documents are
central to this initiative: i) the report
on the Green Economy; ii) the report on
Green Jobs; and iii) the report of the evaluation
of The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity
(TEEB).
It is estimated that
five sectors will be those that generate
the greatest economic returns: 1) clean
energy and clean technologies, including
recycling; 2) rural energy, including renewables;
3) sustainable agriculture, including organic
production; 4) ecosystem-based economic
infrastructure; reducing emissions from
deforestation and forest degradation (REDD);
and 5) sustainable cities, including planning,
transportation, and green buildings
Loss of water resources.
The countries of Latin America and the Caribbean
face the challenge of designing and implementing
efficient strategies for sustainable water
use. Even though the region as a whole contains
a great quantity of water, disparities are
present within a single country, with areas
where critical water shortages exist and
where the inhabitants of the Caribbean islands
have the greatest limitations on the availability
of fresh water. This situation is compounded
by the fact that there is a notable increase
in water demand, due to human consumption,
as well as, among other factors, an increase
in the extent of irrigated agriculture.
The availability of
water could be affected by climate change,
as well, especially by the loss of glaciers.
GEO LAC 3 underscores that, according to
the Fourth Report of the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), by 2050
the number of persons affected by the increasing
water shortages in Latin America and the
Caribbean will be between 79 and 178 million.
Threats to Caribbean
countries as a result of climate change:
Increased saltwater
intrusion
Floods
Land degradation
Destruction of agricultural
crops, homes and livelihoods
Destruction of vital
physical and social infrastructure
Fresh water contamination
Changes in agriculture.
Due to international market demand for products
such as grains and soy bean, and given the
growth in these and national markets for
beef cattle and poultry, the land surface
area dedicated to agriculture has increased.
The region is transforming its farming practices
to respond to the new economic model, which
wants to increase trade. But at the same
time, the region suffers a growing weakness
in its capacity to produce basic foodstuffs,
which has resulted in a significant increase
in agricultural imports.
Loss of forests. The
most recent available data (2005) indicate
that the forest cover of Latin America and
the Caribbean continues to diminish, although
in some countries rates of deforestation
have abated. The accumulated regional loss
of forested areas has reached some 24 million
hectares between 2000 and 2005. Cattle-raising
and agricultural expansion are the principal
threats to forests in the continental tropical
countries, while the expansion of infrastructure
for urbanization and tourism are the major
causes of deforestation in the island regions.
Some relevant facts
35% of the population
of Latin America and the Caribbean (189
million people) are poor, and 14% live in
extreme poverty.
By 2010, 79% of the
region's population (some 470.5 million
people) will be concentrated in urban areas,
and only 21% in rural areas.
The demand for water
in Latin America and the Caribbean has increased
by 76% (from 150 to 264.5 km3/year between
11000 and 2004) as a result of demographic
growth.
The economic losses
accumulated from extreme weather events
in the region reached a value of US$81 billion
for the period 1970-2008.
For 2006, investment
in infrastructure and development was around
US$18 billion, 60% more than in 1997, and
representing about 2% of the total world
investment in this sector.
Public expenditure on
the environment as a percentage of GDP for
2005 made up 0.3% of GDP in Mexico, 0.06%
in Brazil, and between 0.01% and 0.05% of
GDP in Argentina, Belize, Chile, Colombia,
and Uruguay. In the member countries of
the OECD, it accounted for between 1% and
2% of GDP.
It is estimated that
the losses stemming from desertification
for 11 countries in the region are as high
as US$27.525 billion.
Calculations suggest
that the total extent of protected areas
in LAC increased from 303.3 million hectares
in 1995 to more than 500 million in 2007.
Five of the 20 countries
with the most endangered animal species,
and 7 of the 20 with the greatest number
of endangered plants, are found in LAC
In Latin America, 86%
of wastewater arrives untreated into rivers
and oceans; in the Caribbean this figure
may be as high as 90%.
More than 100 million
people live in urban areas that do not meet
minimum standards of environmental quality.
Although probably underestimated,
the total calculated value of what the region's
coastal ecosystems provide comes to US $6.48
million a year.
An estimated 31% of
the 35 million cubic kilometers of freshwater
resources of the planet are found in the
region.
There are around 50
million persons in the region who lack access
to potable water, even though the coverage
of this service reaches 80% of the residents.
As a consequence of
climate change, by 2020 between 12 and 81
million people will be affected by the increased
water shortage.
Sources: ECLAC: 2007
a, 2008, 2009), Ricyt (2008), Arnell (2004),
Martinez and others (2007), NSI (2004);
PAHO (2005), UNEP (2007), IUCN (2008a),
United Nations (2010)
Degradation of marine
ecosystems and coastal areas. The report
emphasizes the dependence, at the regional
level, of these ecosystems, which contribute
to human welfare through the provision of
different types of services including fishing
and tourism. However, over-exploitation
of aquatic resources, erosion and pollution
from land-based sources, among other things,
have generated the degradation of coral
reefs and seagrasses and threatens the main
source of income for many Caribbean countries.
Environmental impacts
from mining and hydrocarbon extraction.
Exploitation of resources such as copper,
coal, nickel, gold, silver, or sand, and
of hydrocarbons represents an important
source of income for some countries. Nonetheless,
these practices affect the reserves of the
minerals which impact other natural resources
(water, forests, and soils) and ecosystems,
causing high environmental costs.
Rapid urbanization.
The environmental situation of cities, especially
large urban areas, is of great concern,
the study emphasizes. The absence of land-use
planning, unplanned land-use changes, air
and water pollution, or a greater vulnerability
to climatic events and natural extremes
are some of the consequences of the accelerated,
unplanned urban growth experienced by the
region in recent decades.
Instruments for action.
Diverse innovative practices implemented
in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well
as in other places around the world, show
some of the lines of action that will permit
the countries of the region to achieve better
management and environmental sustainability.
Among other measures, the third report "Perspectives
on the Environment: Latin America and the
Caribbean ? GEO LAC 3" highlights the
following:
Apply an ecological
focus and land-use planning in rural and
urban development policies;
Integrate an ecosystem
focus into environmental policy and, in
corresponding measure, into sectoral policies;
Implement payments for
environmental services and green enterprises;
Improve the organization
and management of protected areas, biological
corridors, and coastal areas;
Encourage sustainable
tourism;
Increase rates of certified
forest management and community-based forest
management;
Strengthen the administration
and management policies for watersheds;
Promote the development
of renewable sources of energy;
Demand the sustainable
management of extractive activities;
Increase policies and
fiscal incentives that promote sustainable
practices and patterns of production and
consumption;
Strengthen and adjust
environmental regulations;
Promote sustainable
consumption.
Structure of the report:
The third report is
comprised of five chapters. The first describes
the main driving forces and pressures ?
demographic changes, the demand for raw
materials and commerce, growing globalization,
climate change, technological development,
and socio-political and institutional aspects
? that cause environmental change that affects
Latin America and the Caribbean.
Chapter 2 analyzes the
situation of the state of the environment,
while the third chapter evaluates the relationships
and associations between environmental changes
and human well-being. The fourth chapter
presents four socio-economic and environmental
scenarios that can facilitate decision-makers
to adopt positive action in terms of mitigation
and adaptation in the face of environmental
challenges. The last chapter describes the
tendencies that have characterized environmental
policy in the region and the challenges
that must be met to assure their contribution
to a paradigm shift toward development that
favors economic growth, the conservation
of natural and cultural heritage, and the
sustainable use of natural resources.
The study "Latin
America and the Caribbean: Environment Outlook
? GEO LAC 3" is a contribution of UNEP
to promote improvements in human well-being,
and to add to the debate around the concept
of environmental sustainability in a changing
and evolving world .
The document is now
available on the UNEP website: http://www.pnuma.org/geo/geoalc3
For more information:
UNEP
Latin America and Caribbean Regional Office
(LACRO)
Ciudad de Panamá, Panamá
