Corporate governance in Latin America and the Caribbean: Using ESG debt instruments to finance sustainable investment projects

The aim of this report is to study, from the governance perspective, the growing use of environmental, social and governance (ESG) bonds, and in particular sustainability-linked bonds (SLBs), by Latin American and Caribbean corporate issuers in international markets. Focusing on corporate sector sustainability performance, the report examines the potential of these instruments as a source of financing for investment projects and their role in strengthening companies’ governance structures. It also analyses how these instruments can contribute to sustainable recovery in the region, taking into…

The era of platforms and the development of data marketplaces in a free competition environment

The data economy has presented challenges that go far beyond the scope of traditional regulatory frameworks and competition policies. The role of data, digitalization and the dynamic those factors have imposed on the economy have created significant challenges that the regulatory authorities must confront. At the heart of the debate is the impact of digitally-enabled business models and the digital platforms themselves. In this context, many enterprises, particularly small ones, are facing unfair competition from digitally native companies. The digitalization of the economy, the digitally-enab…

A review of the status of institutional mechanisms for sustainable development planning in the Caribbean

The 2030 Agenda underscores the importance of a strengthened institutional framework at the national and regional levels that integrates the three dimensions of sustainable development. This study provides an overview of integrated decision-making processes in Caribbean countries and the role that national institutions play in supporting systematizing integrated decision-making for sustainable development, including in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with focus on eight Caribbean Small Island Developing States (SIDS): Antigua and Barbuda, the British Virgin Isl…

The Hummingbird Vol. 9 No. 3

The Caribbean is Making Strides on the SDGS

Provisional agenda. Fifth meeting of the Forum of the Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean on Sustainable Development

Proposal of Costa Rica on the rules of procedure of the Conference of the Parties of the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean

Report of the Twentieth meeting of the Monitoring Committee of the Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee

Report of the Sixty-first meeting of the Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean

Social protection tools for coping with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic: The Latin American experience

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has triggered an unprecedented worldwide social, economic and health crisis. This emergency has prompted the Latin American and Caribbean countries to deploy a series of social protection measures in an attempt to mitigate its impacts, especially for the most vulnerable population groups. In view of this situation and given the possibility of other crises in the future, the role of social protection systems has become one of fundamental importance, and strategies have to be devised for making those systems universal, comprehensive and sustainable on …

Economic Survey of the Caribbean 2021

This survey examines the economic performance of economies of the Caribbean in 2020 and the first few months of 2021 and comprises five chapters. The first chapter gives an overview of global, regional and subregional economic performance in the Caribbean. The second provides an analysis of the subregion’s fiscal performance and debt burden. The third looks at monetary policy and their impacts. The fourth is focused on the external sector, while the fifth concludes.…

Selected online learning experiences in the Caribbean during COVID-19

This study examines how ICTs have supported equitable development of online distance learning for students in primary, secondary, and tertiary education systems across the Caribbean. By presenting data obtained through interviews with government officials and other key stakeholders in five countries and territories - Barbados, the British Virgin Islands, Guyana, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago – the study highlights learning continuity challenges and successful adaptations specific to the subregion during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study identifies best practices and recommendations to integr…

Education during the COVID-19 pandemic: Access, inclusion and psychosocial support

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognises the key role that education plays in empowering people with the knowledge and skills to work together towards sustainable economic and social development, the highest attainable standards of health and well-being, equality, human rights and global peace. Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 is dedicated to the achievement of quality education, aiming to ensure inclusive and equitable education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all. COVID-19, however, threatens to reverse the progress made so far on SDG4 and other SDGs and r…

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

Proposal to establish a Caribbean Resilience Fund: A segregated portfolio trust fund

Caribbean economies have been grappling with high debt, low growth and structural challenges which have been exacerbated since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. There is, therefore, an urgent need to reduce debt and promote resilience building for these economies. The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has proposed the establishment of the Caribbean Resilience Fund (CRF) as a mechanism to contribute to the achievement of these critical development goals. The CRF is a special purpose financing vehicle intended to leverage long-term low-cost development financing f…

Synthesis of policy interventions responding to integrated water resources management challenges in the Caribbean SIDS

In the Caribbean, high water demand, changes in land use, climate variabilities impacts, deforestation, soil erosion, pollution, inadequate wastewater treatment, and the overexploitation of water sources1, impact on the quantity and quality of available freshwater resources. The management of freshwater resources through an integrated approach is internationally recognised as a best practice for supporting the sustainability of this finite resource. The recent United Nations - 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development report noted the low to medium-low levels of implementation of the integrated …

The Hummingbird Vol. 9 No. 2

Social Panorama of Latin America 2021

The 2021 edition of the Social Panorama of Latin America examines the social impact of the crisis prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic and provides the most recent statistics on poverty, inequality and social spending in the region. The study also analyzes the prolonged health crisis’s profound effects on health care and social protection systems, along with the labor impacts caused by the pandemic, and it includes a chapter on the importance of moving towards a care society as the beacon for a sustainable recovery with gender equality.…

How to finance sustainable development: Recovery from the effects of COVID-19 in Latin America and the Caribbean

Global asymmetries influence policies for recovery in Latin America and the Caribbean. Nearly 30 years after the Earth Summit and the global adoption of an international development agenda, in practical terms the environmental pillar of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has not been taken into consideration in recovery policies in the region. This has created major problems in terms of the medium- and long-term direction of regional economies. On balance, recovery measures —which have focused on maintaining consumption or offsetting falls in it— have weakened non-health public servic…

Women's autonomy and gender equality at the centre of climate action in Latin America and the Caribbean. Regional Consultation prior to the Sixty-sixth Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW 66) within the framework of the 62nd Meeting o...