Title: Environment and Development Trends in Latin America and The Caribbean
1Environment and Development Trends in Latin
America and The Caribbean
Inter-American Development Bank
February 2004
2Environmental 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
3Environmental Progress
- Environmental institutions
- Laws
- Conservation programs, establishment of
protected areas - Focus on urban environmental concerns, air
quality, sanitation, solid waste management
4Challenges
- 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 -
5The 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
6Trends
- 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
7Trends (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
8Trends (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
9Trends (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
10Trends (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
11Trends (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
12 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
13 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
14Weak Environmental Institutions
- Lack of technical and financial resources
- Poor public participation processes
- Ineffective policies and programs
15Lack 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
16New 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
17New 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
18Implications
- 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
19Priority 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
20Priority 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
21Priority areas of action (cont.)
- Social development and the environment
- Address health-environment linkages
- Support rural communities and indigenous groups
- Reduce environmental risk
22Priority 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