Panorama of Productive Development Policies in Latin America and the Caribbean, 2025: how to escape the trap of low capacity for growth. Executive summary

Latin America and the Caribbean is caught in a trap of low capacity for growth, largely because productivity has stagnated and even declined over the past decade. Escaping this trap requires a profound productive transformation, and the way to achieve this is to scale up and improve productive development policies following the new vision that the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has been advocating. The Panorama of Productive Development Policies in Latin America and the Caribbean, 2025 addresses four themes that were selected for their strategic importance and …

Enhancing data for development: policy imperatives for tracking the implementation of the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for Small Island Developing States in the Caribbean. Policy Brief

For small island developing States (SIDS), sustainable development is a delicate balance of pursuing economic growth, social development and environmental stewardship in the context of economic volatility, social challenges, climate change threats and global uncertainties while striving to build resilience. Recognized as a special case for development since the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, SIDS remain highly vulnerable to external shocks due to their small economies, limited connectivity and reliance on external markets. Over the years, global frameworks such …

Update on institutions producing environment statistics in Latin America and the Caribbean, 2023

The production of environment statistics in the countries of the region is influenced by institutions’ progress in incorporating such statistics into their own production processes. As recognized in the Framework for the Development of Environment Statistics,1 environment statistics span many disciplines and pull data from a wide range of sources. Many institutions in addition to national statistical offices and environmental agencies or ministries play a key role in the production of environment statistics, the result of gradual development and systematization of methodological resources, too…

Diagnosis and recommendations to integrate administrative records related to children: use of administrative records for better statistics on children and adolescents

By adopting the 2030 Development Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) monitoring framework, countries are working towards improving the livelihoods and prospects for children and adolescents to ensure they reach their full potential. To this end, it is key to understand the circumstances in which they live, the barriers they face as well as which programmes and policies work for whom and under what conditions. One cannot improve what is not measured, and disaggregated data on children and adolescents by important dimensions, such as sex and gender, help to uncover how circumstanc…

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Regional Gender Agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean: gender indicators up to 2024

Latin America and the Caribbean has made considerable efforts to achieve gender equality. Now the region must consolidate advances and fulfil commitments by accelerating progress towards substantive equality and the full exercise of rights for all women and girls. This document analyses the gender indicators for monitoring the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda, in synchrony with the Regional Gender Agenda of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean. It focuses on Goals 1, 2, 3, 5, 8 and 17. Achieving more productive, inclusive and sustainable de…

Latin America and the Caribbean in the Final Five Years of the 2030 Agenda: Steering Transformations to Accelerate Progress

Five years from the deadline for achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Latin America and the Caribbean, progress has fallen short of expectations a decade ago when the journey began. Many factors have impeded better progress: weak institutional capacities, limited financing and fiscal space, low growth for major trading partners, the shock of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and subsequent cascading crises. In 2025, these factors have been compounded by geopolitical tensions and disruptions that may pose new obstacles for achievement of the SDGs, as well a…

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14 Life below water

Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.…

Latin America and the Caribbean in the Final Five Years of the 2030 Agenda: Steering Transformations to Accelerate Progress. Summary

Five years from the deadline for achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Latin America and the Caribbean, progress has fallen short of expectations a decade ago when the journey began. Many factors have impeded better progress: weak institutional capacities, limited financing and fiscal space, low growth for major trading partners, the shock of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and subsequent cascading crises. In 2025, these factors have been compounded by geopolitical tensions and disruptions that may pose new obstacles for achievement of the SDGs, as well as new…

Territorialization of the Sustainable Development Goals in Latin America and the Caribbean: a manual for implementation of voluntary local reviews at the subnational level

Just six years away from the date set for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals established in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, an unprecedented level of concerted action is called for. All stakeholders will have to strengthen their resolve to find and put in place lasting solutions. Although the Sustainable Development Goals are global in scope, their achievement will hinge on the ability to make their attainment a reality at the subnational, local and territorial levels, including individual towns, cities and regions. The purpose of this manual is to share lessons…

Road to Seville: reform proposals for FfD4 from the United Nations regional commissions

This policy brief, prepared by the five United Nations regional commissions, identifies the critical challenges faced by emerging and developing countries in closing the financing gap to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It highlights systemic shortcomings in the global financing framework, including unmet development finance commitments, high public debt and a financial system misaligned with sustainability needs. The brief outlines key strategies for reform, focusing on enhancing domestic public resources, improving debt sustainability and fostering inclusive economic growth.…

The Hummingbird Vol. 11 No. 11

Sustainability and development in the municipalities of the State of Paraná: mapping and analysis using the sustainable city development index of Brazil (IDSC-BR)

In consideration of the importance that the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development have acquired in the economic, social and environmental spheres, this article uses the sustainable city development index of Brazil (IDSC-BR) methodology to map SDG attainment in the 399 municipalities of Paraná. The main findings reveal that the municipalities with the lowest SDG fulfilment scores are concentrated in the central region of Paraná. Analysing the results by the individual Goals, the State performed best with Goal 11, sustainable cities and communitie…

CEPAL Review No. 143

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…

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

The second half of the implementation period agreed for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is now under way. To this end, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) presents herein the seventh report on regional progress and challenges in relation to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in Latin America and the Caribbean. The background to this report is a difficult global context characterized by various persistent crises that have been unfolding for several years in connection with slow economic and trade growth, climate change, forced migrations, geopol…

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Regional Gender Agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean: gender indicators up to 2023

Latin America and the Caribbean is in the midst of cascading crises that are deepening historical and structural inequalities and which disproportionately affect women. It is therefore urgent for the countries of the region to speed up progress towards achieving gender equality and the full exercise of the rights of women, adolescent girls and girls in all their diversity. This document presents a descriptive analysis of the gender indicators for monitoring the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda and the prioritized set of indicators for regional follow-up of the SDGs, in l…

The Hummingbird Vol. 10 No. 10

Addressing Water Security in the Caribbean

A study on challenges and opportunities in financing Sustainable Development Goals 4 and 9 in three Caribbean countries: an exploratory analysis

This study presents an exploratory analysis of the current state of financing the implementation of quality education and resilient infrastructure in Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados and Saint Lucia. The study will analyze domestic funding sources, including government budgetary resources, and foreign sources, including loans and grants. It will examine strategies the region can adopt to leverage funding at scale, such as blended finance, innovative PPPs, ESG-driven FDI and syndicated loans. The study will also examine how the countries can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of financing to…

The Hummingbird Vol. 10 No. 5