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…

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…

The Hummingbird Vol. 9 No. 8

Report of the Fifth meeting of the Forum of the Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean on Sustainable Development 

Equality at the heart of ECLAC thinking: Ideas, policies and actions from 2008 to 2022

This essay summarizes the main lines of analysis, policy proposals and actions in favour of sustainable development in Latin America and the Caribbean that ECLAC has pursued during the more than 13 years that Alicia Bárcena served as its Executive Secretary.…

Assessment of the effects and impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in The Bahamas

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the world’s economic order and global public health. Social distancing measures to curb the spread of the virus created significant challenges for global economic activity. Sectors such as tourism virtually shut down. The economy of The Bahamas is heavily reliant on tourism, which accounts for approximately 50% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The pandemic also highlighted the country’s socio-economic vulnerability as businesses and citizens felt the crunch. These impacts highlighted the need for comprehensive Disaster Risk Management (DRM) and…

The Hummingbird Vol. 9 No. 7

Final assessment report. Assessment of development account project 18/19 AJ: Coordination, Coherence and Effectiveness for Implementing the Environmental Dimension of the 2030 Agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean

The Case for Economic Restructuring Post-COVID-19 in the Caribbean

Since the global crisis of 2008-2009, there has been less confidence in the primacy of markets to lead sustainable development among developing countries in general and small island developing States (SIDS) in particular. It is acknowledged that markets need discipline and an institutional context that can support private gains while reducing social costs and delivering less inequality. Prompted by declining competitiveness in leading sectors, and a commitment to addressing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), governments in the subregion have been developing long-term plan…

The Hummingbird Vol. 9 No. 6

Post-COVID-19 Economic Aspects of Digital Transformation

Regional policy brief on building urban economic resilience during and after COVID-19 in Latin America and the Caribbean

This document, prepared in the framework of the United Nations Development Account twelfth tranche residual balance (DAT12A) project “Building Urban Economic Resilience during and after COVID-19”, aims to provide a critical analysis of the challenges faced by Latin American and Caribbean countries amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, and of the main elements that build economic and financial resilience. First, a detailed description of the project is given and the importance of economic and financial resilience is explained. The background and challenges in the region and the spec…

Final assessment report. Assessment of development account project 1819 AH: regional observatory on sustainable energy for Latin America and the Caribbean region

Reducing emissions from the energy sector for a more resilient and low-carbon post-pandemic recovery in Latin America and the Caribbean

Economic crises are not new, but the way countries respond to and seek to build back from their effects is an ever-evolving process. In the present context, the strategies adopted by Latin American and Caribbean countries to recover from the dramatic impacts of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic are marked by an urgent need to also address the climate crisis. This publication examines the synergies and linkages between post-COVID-19 crisis recovery approaches stemming from a sustainable energy transition in Latin America and the Caribbean. The study aims to identify recovery strategie…

Summary of the Chair. Fifth meeting of the Forum of the Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean on Sustainable Development

End of assignment report Alicia Bárcena 2008–2022

This document contains a report on the term in office of Alicia Bárcena as Executive Secretary of ECLAC (2008–2022), by area of work of the Commission.…

Final assessment report. Assessment of development account project 1819 AF: Strengthening institutional frameworks in the Caribbean for an integrative approach to implement the 2030 Agenda and the SIDS Sustainable Development Agenda

The Hummingbird Vol. 9 No. 4

Intergovernmentally agreed conclusions and recommendations of the Fifth meeting of the Forum of the Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean on Sustainable Development

A decade of action for a change of era. Fifth report on regional progress and challenges in relation to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in Latin America and the Caribbean

For the fifth time, the countries of the region are convening in the framework of the Forum of the Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean on Sustainable Development. On each occasion, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has presented a report on regional progress and challenges in relation to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Since 2020, efforts to assess progress towards meeting the 2030 Agenda have had to be undertaken amid the constraints imposed by measures to address the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. In this difficult context, EC…