Environment and Development Trends in Latin America and The Caribbean

1
Environment and Development Trends in Latin
America and The Caribbean
Inter-American Development Bank

February 2004
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Environmental Underpinnings of Sustainable
Development

• Latin America and the Caribbean depends on the
  environmental services such as those provided by
• Forests
• Coastal and marine ecosystems
• Terrestrial biodiversity
• Surface and ground water
• Soils

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Environmental Progress

• Environmental institutions
• Laws
• Conservation programs, establishment of
  protected areas
• Focus on urban environmental concerns, air
  quality, sanitation, solid waste management

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Challenges

• Despite significant investments from countries,
  multilateral banks, bilateral agencies to
  specific environmental programs the trend
  indicators point to
• greater environmental degradation and
  depreciation of natural capital and
• Poorer health, declines in productivity and
  income, physical vulnerability and diminished
  quality of life

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The problem areas in natural resource and
environmental management

• Water resources
• Forest resources and biodiversity
• Marine-coastal resources
• Energy
• Urban pollution
• Vulnerability to natural disasters
• Climate change

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Trends

• Forests, soils and biodiversity
• In ten years, region has lost 4.7 million
  hectares of forest per year, resulting in
  extensive loss of
• Soil
• Biodiversity and genetic resources
• Water
• Development Impact reduction in agricultural
  productivity, vulnerability to flooding and
  droughts, loss of tourism

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Trends (cont.)

• Urban Environments
• Transportation patterns in urban areas are
• causing acute deterioration of air quality
• Increases in particulate matter, carbon dioxide,
  nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxides, and volatile
  organic compounds.
• More than 100 million people are exposed to
  pollutants at levels that exceed WHO air quality
  standards
• Development Impact respiratory illnesses
  resulting in 100,00 deaths each year

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Trends (cont.)

• Water Resources
• 76 million people lack access to safe water 15
  of total population
• Less than half of the population is connected to
  sewage treatment services.
• Development Impacts gastrointestinal
  infections, premature infant mortality

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Trends (cont.)

• Coastal-Marine Resources
• Coastal ecosystems and estuaries are being
  degraded
• Destruction of mangroves
• Loss of coral reefs due to pollution
• Oversfishing
• Development Impact loss of livelihood in
  fishing, tourism, and aquaculture

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Trends (cont.)

• Climate Change
• At present relatively small contribution to
  overall GHG emissions. Region vulnerable to
  climate change
• extreme weather events
• flooding, loss of coastline
• drought, fires
• Development Impacts loss of infrastructure,
  productivity, livelihood, and lives

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Trends (cont.)

• Natural Disasters
• Region vulnerable to earthquakes, floods, fires,
  tropical storms, hurricanes, droughts and
  landslides
• Average of 40.7 disasters per year (1990-1998)
• Poor most affected
• Development Impacts Loss of life, economic
  losses (20 billion 1990-1998), infectious
  diseases, homelessness

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Genuine savings in LAC
Gross and net savings
( of GDP)
Southeast Asia and Pacific
Net savings
Environmental Degradation
Developed
South Asia
Latin America and Caribbean
Eastern Europe and Central Asia
Rest of Africa
Middle East and North Africa
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Genuine Savings in LAC, by Country
Gross and net savings
Net savings
( of GDP)
Panamá
Costa Rica
Honduras
Brasil
Chile
Rep. Dominicana
México
Perú
Jamaica
Environmental Degradation
Barbados
Belice
Argentina
Ecuador
Antigua y Barbuda
Uruguay
Trinidad y Tobago
Paraguay
Bolivia
Guyana
Venezuela
Colombia
Guatemala
El Salvador
Haití
Nicaragua
-20
-15
-10
-5
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
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Weak Environmental Institutions

• Lack of technical and financial resources
• Poor public participation processes
• Ineffective policies and programs

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Lack 1

• Policy Coherence
• Environment is a significant factor in health,
  agriculture, energy, transportation , trade, etc.
• Policies often work at cross purposes, eroding
  environmental gains or impeding them

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New Approaches

• 1. Strengthening Environmental Governance
• technical and financial sustainability of
  environmental institutions
• Regulatory frameworks with emphasis on
  monitoring,and enforcement
• Environmental management instruments
  environmental information, market-based
  measures, economic valuation of natural resources
  and environmental services

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New Approaches

• 2. Mainstreaming environmental considerations
  into social and economic policies
• Capacity building for developing economic and
  social policies that shape the behavior of
  individuals, institutions and companies.
• Developing tools that help quantify the
  environmental benefits and costs of policies
• Integrating environmental considerations with
  other strategic priorities such as
  modernization of the state, enhancing
  competitiveness, social development and regional
  economic integration

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Implications

• Environmental sustainability as a core element
  of development effectiveness
• Address the interface between environment and
• modernization of the state,
• competitiveness,
• economic integration, and
• social development

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Priority areas of action

• Modernization of the state and the environment
• Strengthen environmental governance
• Improve financial sustainability
• Support decentralization processes
• Support a wide range of management instruments

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Priority areas of action (cont.)

• Competitiveness and the environment
• Preserve the productive value of natural
  resources and ecosystems
• Promote public and private investment
• Promote clean production mechanisms
• Establish systems of certification and
  accreditation
• Promote green goods and services

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Priority areas of action (cont.)

• Social development and the environment
• Address health-environment linkages
• Support rural communities and indigenous groups
• Reduce environmental risk

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Priority areas of action (cont.)

• Regional Integration and the environment
• Strengthen environmental institutions, policies
  and programs
• Identify potential environmental stresses and
  opportunities
• Promote effective regional management of shared
  public goods (watersheds, corridors, etc.)
• Apply adequate environmental analysis and
  monitoring in regional infrastructure
  initiatives