The Sustainability of Development in Latin America and the Caribbean: Challenges and Opportunities
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The sustainability of development in Latin America and the Caribbean: challenges and opportunities The sustainability of development in Latin America and the Caribbean: challenges and opportunities Economic Commission Regional Office for for Latin America and the Latin America and the Caribbean Caribbean Santiago, Chile, July 2002 Libros de la CEPAL 68 The following persons contributed to the preparation of this document ECLAC UNEP Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean Substantive coordination Alicia Bárcena Ibarra Ricardo Sánchez Sosa Authors Roberto Guimarães Julia Carabias Lillo Guillermo Acuña Fernando Tudela Abad Enrique Provencio José Luis Samaniego Leyva Consultants Antonio Elizalde Manuel Rodríguez Becerra Ramiro León Ronald Vargas Brenes Collaborators Jean Acquatella, Hugo Altomonte, Ernesto Raúl Brañes, Exequiel Ezcurra, Oscar Espíndola, Gilberto Gallopín, José Javier Ramírez, Jorge Ronzón, Rossana Silva Gómez García, Arthur Gray, Ricardo Repetto, Kaveh Zahedi Jordan, Arturo León, Jorge Mattar, Carlos de Miguel, Niels Holm-Nielsen, Georgina Nuñez, María Angela Parra, Verónica Rengifo, Jorge Rodríguez, Marianne Schaper, Claudia Schattán, Miguel Villa, Ricardo Zapata United Nations Environment Programme Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (UNEP) Boulevard de los Virreyes 155, Lomas de Virreyes, CP 11000, Mexico City, Mexico Tel. (52) 5 202 6394 - 5 202 4841 Fax (52) 5 202 0950 E-mail: [email protected] http://www.rolac.unep.mx United Nations Publication LC/G.2145/Rev.1-P ISBN: 92-1-121357-6 Copyright © United Nations, July 2002. All rights reserved Sales No. E.02.II.G.48 Printed in United Nations, Santiago, Chile Applications for right to reproduce this work are welcomed and should be sent to the Secretary of the Publications Board, United Nations Headquarters, New York, N.Y. 10017, United States. Member States and the governmental institutions may reproduce this work without prior authorization, but are requested to mention the source and inform the United Nations of such reproduction. The sustainability of development in Latin America and the Caribbean: ... 5 Contents Foreword .........................................................................................................11 Summary .........................................................................................................15 Introduction ......................................................................................................17 Part one Sustainability in the region Chapter I Economic performance in the 1990s ..............................................................31 A. Economic growth in Latin America and the Caribbean..........32 B. Public finances and inflation.......................................................34 C. Capital flows and the instability of economic growth ............35 D. Economic openness, trade and integration...............................36 E. Foreign direct investment............................................................40 F. The impact of production transformation on sustainable development..................................................................................41 Chapter II Major trends in social development in the 1990s.........................................45 A. Employment..................................................................................46 B. Loss of job security .......................................................................49 C. Inequality in income distribution...............................................49 D. Inequalities in land distribution .................................................51 E. Relative decline in poverty..........................................................52 F. Public social spending .................................................................54 G. Social challenges for sustainability ............................................57 6 ECLAC Chapter III Demographic trends ........................................................................................61 A. Population and environmentally sustainable development...63 1. Demographic transition as a challenge for governments and societies...............................................63 2. The dependency ratio and the demographic bonus ..........64 3. The population/resources ratio. Carrying capacity...........65 4. Mobility of regional population: migrations.......................66 5. Migration and remittances ....................................................68 6. Spatial trends in population settlement...............................70 Chapter IV The environmental situation in the region ...................................................73 A. Natural ecosystems ......................................................................73 1. Natural land ecosystems........................................................73 2. Marine and coastal ecosystems...........................................105 B. Water resources ..........................................................................111 1. Water resources and their availability in the region........111 2. Water management in the region .......................................118 C. Urbanization and the environment..........................................120 D. Pollution.......................................................................................126 1. Air ...........................................................................................126 2. Drinking water and sanitation ............................................129 3. Waste ......................................................................................131 4. Changes in industrial pollution ..........................................134 5. Rural and diffused pollution...............................................135 E. Energy trends in the region and global climate change........136 1. Energy trends in Latin America and the Caribbean over recent decades ...........................................136 2. Latin America and the Caribbean and global climate change.......................................................................142 3. The contribution of Latin America and the Caribbean to total emissions ...............................................143 Chapter V Socio-environmental vulnerability ..............................................................147 A. The world context.......................................................................147 B. Natural disasters in the region .................................................148 C. The socio-economic impact of disasters in the region...........151 The sustainability of development in Latin America and the Caribbean: ... 7 Chapter VI Public policies.................................................................................................157 A. The institutional framework for the environment .................157 B. Evolution of regulatory frameworks .......................................162 C. Integration of public policies ....................................................164 D. Experiments with the use of economic instruments in environmental management.....................................................165 E. Participation for sustainable development: sustainable development at the national and local levels; participation of leading actors from civil society and the productive sectors ........................................................169 1. Sustainable development at the national and local levels..............................................................................169 2. Civil society and citizen participation................................172 3. Participation of the business sector in sustainable development..........................................................................175 Chapter VII International framework ...............................................................................179 A. Pre- and post-Rio multilateral environmental accords .........................................................................................180 B. The region and global environmental problems....................183 C. The Latin American and Caribbean response ........................185 D. Subregional integration and sustainable development agendas ........................................................................................191 E. Imperatives for a new institutional structure .........................193 Part two Future prospects Chapter VIII The region’s role in a global alliance ...........................................................199 A. Recognizing the progress made................................................199 B. A disturbing assessment............................................................200 C. The main challenges...................................................................201 D. Constraints in national and global agendas............................202 E. The uniqueness of the region....................................................203 F. Domesticating globalization for sustainable development................................................................................204 G. Synergy between agreements and more efficient environmental institutions ........................................................204 H. Convergence between global agreements and the regional position ..................................................................205 8 ECLAC I. Knowledge and technology for sustainable development................................................................................206