The Hummingbird Vol. 9 No. 9

Global Warming Impacts to Freshwater Resources in Caribbean SIDS

Water, by its continuous movement within the Earth and the atmosphere is the primary medium through which climate change influences this planet’s natural, physical, chemical and biological systems and processes. Global warming is affecting seasonal rainfall variabilities, precipitation rates, and resulting in uncertainties of freshwater supplies. Fresh water including both surface and ground is a finite resource and essential to sustaining human health, economic, environmental and ecosystem services (UN 2021). The Caribbean small island developing States (SIDS) are highly vulnerable to the imp…

Climate Change, The Caribbean Sea, and the Ocean Economy – Securing Livelihoods of Caribbean People

Caribbean people have always had a special relationship with the ocean and coast, with most of the population, infrastructure, and economic activities located along the coastal zone in Caribbean small island developing States (SIDS). Marine and coastal ecosystems provide employment, recreation, livelihoods, and ensure food security for millions of people across the subregion in the areas of fisheries, tourism, transportation, and energy.…

Limiting Temperature Rise - What Does It Mean for Caribbean SIDS?

Director’s Desk: Limiting temperature rise to 1.5 degrees to stay alive - What does it mean for Caribbean SIDS?

As is well known, Caribbean small island developing States (SIDS) are vulnerable to recurrent multidimensional shocks. These have lasting social, economic, and environmental impacts; effects expected to become further aggravated in a world with a persistently warming climate. The COVID-19 pandemic further exacerbates these impacts.…

Final assessment report. Assessment of development account project 1819 AI: I Leaving no one behind in Latin America and the Caribbean: strengthening institutions for social policy coherence and integration to foster equality

Nature-based solutions and the bioeconomy: Contributing to a sustainable and inclusive transformation of agriculture and to the post-COVID-19 recovery

Nature-based solutions (NBS) stand at the forefront of efforts to address the multiple dimensions of global environmental change. This document reviews the synergies among multiple objectives that these solutions can offer to achieve greater sustainability in agriculture and to strengthen the bioeconomy in Latin America and the Caribbean, with a view to recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. It describes a set of NBS that have the potential to generate synergies between the environmental objectives of the Rio conventions and that propose a road map for transformational change in the agricultural…

Food Security in the Caribbean - A Policy Perspective

Among the several development issues facing Caribbean SIDS, food and nutrition security has emerged as a particularly important challenge given its role in affecting the health and well-being of all of its peoples. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), (2021), as much as 67.5 per cent of the subregion’s population is currently living in moderate to severe food insecurity. This is related mainly to the cost of accessing food, as well as the quality of food accessed. This compares to a global average of 27.6 per cent.…

Nature Based Solutions: Can They Help Us Stay Alive at 1.5 °C?

The global community claims to be committed to finding a solution to arresting rising global temperatures limiting global warming to well below 2 °C, preferably 1.5 °C (UNFCCC, 2022), to ensure that all life, livelihoods and the overall health and welfare of ecosystems animals and humans are secured (IPCC 2018). The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports paint a picture that shows increased intensity and frequency of climatic conditions and extreme events as emerging trends (IPCC 2018). Global warming beyond 1.5 °C will be devastating; in fact, projections show at 2 °C warming ma…

Use of the damage and loss assessment methodology to estimate the effects of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic

Given the human, social and economic impacts of COVID-19 across the world and the Latin American and Caribbean region, since its onset the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has focused its work agenda on assessing the impact of the pandemic on the three dimensions of sustainable development. To contribute to these efforts, this paper presents the Methodology for the Assessment of Disasters (known as Damage and Loss Assessment – DaLa) developed by ECLAC, and its applicability in the national assessments of the effects of COVID-19. The Commission is therefore making…

Climate action guidelines 2022–2030: City of Belmopan, Belize

The city of Belmopan, built away from the coast during the second half of the twentieth century to ensure continuity of government functions even after severe storms, is an early example of climate adaptation. In the past 20 years, the city’s fast population growth, driven mostly by immigration, has strained services and infrastructure. Belmopan —the “garden city”— has ample green spaces and an overall negative carbon footprint, but faces challenges posed by climate change. The Climate action guidelines 2022–2030 respond to the need to address those challenges while contributing to Belize’s ov…

Economic analysis based on input-output tables: Definitions, indicators and applications for Latin America

This manual summarizes the theoretical bases of the input-output model applied in the economic analysis of countries and groups of countries (subregions). The input-output tables developed by the Regional Integration Unit of the International Trade and Integration Division of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) will be of use to government experts for conducting their own calculations and analyses, following and adapting the guidelines and recommendations contained the manual to design specific public policies. Some indicators suggested in the document include …

Report on the activities of the Statistical Coordination Group for the 2030 Agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean

First report on the implementation of the Biennial Programme of Regional and International Cooperation activities 2022-2023 of the Statistical Conference of the Americas of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)

Annotated provisional agenda. Twenty-first meeting of the Executive Committee of the Statistical Conference of the Americas of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean

Protocol for the collection and dissemination of data on children and adolescents participating in studies

The Working Group on Statistics on Childhood and Adolescence of the Statistical Conference of the Americas has been working since 2015 to improve the region’s capacity to produce statistics on children and adolescents. In this context, and having found that there are no ethical protocols for statistical research in the region, a decision was made to develop a standard protocol to facilitate the collection and dissemination of data on children and adolescents in statistical offices. The instrument considers regional specifics and the effect of local cultural and gender norms; and it anticipates…

Annotated provisional agenda. Fifth meeting of the Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference on Social Development in Latin America and the Caribbean

Toolkit. Institutional frameworks for social policies for equality in Latin America and the Caribbean

Ensuring that public management is guided by a rights-based approach and resolving the fragmentation of the social institutional framework —as reflected in the dispersal of policies and programmes, segmented by sectoral dynamics or between different levels of government— are key challenges for the implementation of social policies for equality in Latin America and the Caribbean. This document presents tools and guidance on the management and institutional framework of social policies to address these challenges. Taking as a basis a comprehensive conceptual framework of social institutions and …

Provisional agenda. Fifth meeting of the Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference on Social Development in Latin America and the Caribbean

Supply, demand and economic growth in Mexico in the period 1980–2016

Economic growth is produced by stimuli arising from supply and demand. On the supply side, growth depends on the accumulation of factors and their productivity. On the demand side, it is determined by government consumption, investment and spending and net exports. Input-output tables can be used to explain the contributions made by the growth of the components of each of the variables and to find the growth path followed by the economy. From this path it can be gauged whether the type of growth is more supply- or demand-led. This paper uses input-output tables to show that growth in Mexico ha…