Development Traps in Latin America and the Caribbean: Vital Transformations and How to Manage Them

Latin America and the Caribbean is facing a number of development traps that pose significant obstacles to a more productive, inclusive and sustainable future. This development crisis coincides with an international context that has changed considerably in the last decade —both on the geo-economic and geopolitical fronts— and which is shifting towards a new set of rules for trade and investment. For its fortieth session, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) is putting forward a new proposal analysing three transformations that are vital for moving towards a new …

Strengthening regional capacities to address the risk of and from overshooting 1.5°C global warming in Latin America and the Caribbean

The main objective of this background paper is to raise awareness and support Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) governments and non-state actors to strengthen their capacities to engage in and/or lead global conversations on how to manage the risk of temporary overshoot and the role -if any- of Solar Radiation Modification (SRM) in the context of achieving and safeguarding delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This document was prepared by Fundación Torcuato Di Tella (FTDT), funded by the Carnegie Climate Governance Initiative (C2G), and produced in collaboration with the Unit…

The Hummingbird Vol. 11 No. 10

Rapporteurs Report on Caribbean Development Roundtable. Alva Baptiste Minister For External Affairs, International Trade, Civil Aviation and Diaspora Affairs of Saint Lucia

SIDS 4: Now or never for small island survival

The Hummingbird Vol. 11 No. 9

CEPAL Review No. 143

The Hummingbird Vol. 11 No. 8

The Hummingbird Vol. 11 No. 7

The Hummingbird Vol. 11 No. 6

Final assessment report. Assessment of development account project 2023Q Caribbean small island developing State-relevant climate change and disasters indicators for evidence-based policies

Resilient growth, development and structural change in the Caribbean

The Hummingbird Vol. 11 No. 5

Addressing the graduation policy in Chile: raising the visibility of the structural gaps that hinder development in Latin America and the Caribbean

This document aims to reaffirm the central role played by the international cooperation system, in the different forms it can assume, in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. For the countries of the region to achieve the Goals, it is essential to ensure their access to technical assistance and knowledge sharing, strengthen collaborative partnerships, promote active multi-stakeholder participation and increase mobilization of funding for development. In 2017, Chile was one of three Latin American and Caribbean countries that were “graduated…

CEPAL Review No. 141. Special 75th anniversary issue: towards a more productive, inclusive and sustainable development model

Access to Environmental Information in Latin America and the Caribbean: A Synthesis of Decisions Adopted by Oversight Bodies and Selected Judgements

In order to promote environmental democracy, it is necessary to strengthen access to environmental information. This right is interrelated to the other procedural rights of access to environmental participation and to environmental justice. Access to environmental information allows people to learn about the current and projected state of the environment (including damages and impacts, both potential and real); to effectively participate in decision-making processes; and to have better tools to protect their natural environment. Additionally, access to environmental information is an enabling …

An assessment of urban expansion in Caribbean small island developing States. The cases of Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago

The disproportionate increase in urbanized areas in relation to populations resulting in the spread of low-density urban settlements is recognized as a sustainable development challenge globally, including in Caribbean SIDS. This phenomenon has numerous adverse effects on urban settlements’ capacity to adapt to the impacts of climate change, such as the increased vulnerability of critical infrastructure to climate disasters; the formation of informal settlements in risk-prone areas; an increase in impervious surfaces affecting floods’ spatial patterns and increasing related risks; and the dest…

Road map for the implementation in Saint Lucia of the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean

This document contains the road map for the implementation in Saint Lucia of the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean (Escazú Agreement), prepared by the Government of Saint Lucia with the support of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). Its purpose is to provide a normative and practical analysis of access rights in Saint Lucia, systematizing the progress made and the gaps that remain. A workshop-consultation was held with a number of stakeholders, including publ…

Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean. Accessible format

On 4 March 2018, the Latin American and Caribbean region made history when it adopted the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean, at Escazú, Costa Rica. The Regional Agreement is a ground-breaking legal instrument for environmental protection, but it is also a human rights treaty. Its main beneficiaries are the people of the Latin American and Caribbean region, particularly the most vulnerable groups and communities. It aims to ensure the right of all persons to have access to information in a ti…

The Challenge of Accelerating the 2030 Agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean: Transitions towards Sustainability. Summary

Enormous challenges face the countries of the region. The risk of straying further from the path towards sustainable development is clear. There is no time for pause, let alone for setbacks. In this context, ECLAC reiterates its commitment to contribute to the achievement of the SDGs by 2030, by holding the annual meetings of the Forum of the Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean on Sustainable Development, providing support for the conduct of voluntary national and local reviews on progress and challenges in relation to the SDGs, offering technical cooperation in various fields, and ot…