Renewable energies potential in Jamaica

Jamaica has abundant renewable energy sources (RES), which have hardly been tapped in the past and could provide for large shares of the future energy requirements. In 2005, around 5% of the expected 4,020 GWh of electricity produced will be based on RES (wind and hydropower). With the new planned target of a share of 15% RES electricity by 2012, a combined renewable capacity of about 175 MW would need to be installed in that year. There is further wind potential on Jamaica, even if no exact figures can be given on the magnitude of the exploitable wind potential. Nonetheless, it seems realisti…

Caribbean tourism and agriculture: Linking to enhance development and competitiveness

This study examines current trends in tourism and agriculture in Caribbean countries and the strategy for linking them in order to facilitate their future development. The tourism industry has, in the past, developed largely apart from other sectors such as agriculture. On the other hand, agriculture has developed mainly to satisfy export markets. Domestic agriculture has had limited development and has therefore been displaced to a considerable extent by food imports. The recent promotion of agriculture tourism linkages is an attempt to enhance the local value added of the tourism industry, w…

Alternative measures of potential economic growth in Latin America

Hubert Escaith is Director of the Division of Statistics and Economic Projections of ECLAC. These methodological notes were prepared for a lecture at the 2005 ECLAC Summer School. They are based on, and up-date, a series of papers in Spanish published in 2003 and 2004, which received in 2005 the award Maestro Jesus Silva Herzog from Economic Research Institute of the Universidad National Autonoma de Mexico. The views expressed in this document, which has been reproduced without formal editing, are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Organization. …

International Rivers and Lakes Nº 44

CONTENTS I.Calexico joins fight against canal project.II. NAFTA and Canadian Water.III.Water Dependencies and Interstate Behaviour: The Basis for Cooperation or Conflict.IV. Water policy: European Commission takes legal action against Italy, Spain and Greece over key directive.V. Tribunal hands down jurisdictional ruling in Bechtel-Bolivia arbitration.VI. States which share Colorado River water agree to plan for drought. VII. U.S. Federal Judge rejects Oregon farmers' water claim.VIII.Meaning and scope of Water Code reform in Chile. IX. Mexico's Rio Grande water debt repaid. Thestate…

Sustainable human settlements development in Latin America and the Caribbean

This document presents an overview of the regional progress made towards the targets and commitments derived from implementation plans and programmes for the main agreements of the Johannesburg Summit and Agenda 21 regarding human settlements thematic cluster in Latin America and the Caribbean. It has been submitted as part of the preparatory process for the twelfth session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development, held in May 2004. A previous summary of this report was validated by the XII General Assembly of Ministers and Highest Authorities of Housing and Urban Developmen…

Issues in the development of a regional mechanism/consultative framework for effective coordinated and coherent implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action/ Mauritius Strategy in the Caribbean

Report on the national training workshop in the ECLAC methodology for estimating the socio-economic and environmental effects of disasters. 19-21 April 2005, Cayman Islands

The 2004 hurricanes in the Caribbean and the tsunami in the Indian Ocean: lessons and policy challenges for development and disaster reduction

Are there lessons to be learned from the recent disasters at the global scale? Are the numbers of disasters increasing and is their impact more severe? Is there a difference to be established among hazard exposure and the resilience, fragility and brittleness of humanmade vulnerabilities? How do countries and societies manage risk, transfer it or disperse it. This document will not answer all of these questions, but they have come to the forefront after the tsunami in the Indian Ocean and the Caribbean hurricane season, both in terms of the outcome of the 2004 and the perspective for 2005. …