Extractive activities are a driver of economic growth in many Latin  American and Caribbean countries. For that growth to be inclusive and sustainable, however, past and future risks and pressures that affect the health of people and the environment need to be properly managed.

This book provides an overview of the risks and damages that have become environmental legacies and offers examples of how economic activities can generate a negative environmental legacy if robust regulatory and institutional frameworks are not in place. It also analyses mechanisms for assigning responsibilities and proposes alternatives for financing the remediation of environmental legacies and contaminated sites.

It argues that the remediation of an environmental legacy must be geared toward controlling risks and must involve effective, timely and transparent community participation. Remediation should also help to increase the economic value of contaminated sites, create jobs, expand land use possibilities, provide urban and social benefits and improve the protection of nature.