Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Medio Ambiente Oficina Regional para América Latina y el Caribe UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME PROGRAMME DES NATIONS UNIES POUR L’ENVIRONNEMENT Eighteenth Meeting of the Forum of Ministers of the Environment of Latin America and the Caribbean Quito, Ecuador 31 January - 3 February 2012

Distribution: Limited UNEP/LAC-IG.XVIII/5 Friday, 16 December 2011 Original: Spanish

B. MINISTERIAL SEGMENT 2-3 February 2012

 

“Emerging Environmental Issues for Latin America and the Caribbean”

UNEP/LAC-IG.XVIII/5 

Contents Introduction: the prospective process of UNEP for identifying emerging issues . 3 1. Emerging issues: the 10 most relevant issues for Latin America and the Caribbean ........................................................................................................... 4 1.1 Aligning governance to the challenges of global sustainability.............. 5 1.2 Broken bridges: Reconnecting science and policy ................................. 6 1.3. Social tipping points? Catalysing rapid and transformative change in human behaviour for the environment ........................................................... 8 11.1 New challenges for ensuring food safety and food security for the nine billion inhabitants projected for 2050............................................................. 9 11.2 The need for novel governance arrangements to promote sustainable land management ........................................................................................ 11 11.3 The new challenges to water availability require that this resource be used efficiently ............................................................................................ 12 11.4 The potential collapse of oceanic systems requires integrated ocean governance .................................................................................................. 14 11.5 Acting on the signal of climate change in response to the increased frequency of extreme weather events .......................................................... 15 11.6 Accelerating the implementation of renewable energy systems .......... 16 11.7 Have we accelerated the pace of risk taking more than necessary? The need for modern approaches to minimising risks from new technologies and toxic chemicals ............................................................................................ 17 11.8 A new governance for sustainable development ................................. 18 Bibliography ..................................................................................................... 19 List of Acronyms and Initials ............................................................................ 22

UNEP/LAC-IG.XVIII/5 

Introduction: the prospective process of UNEP for identifying emerging issues 1. The agenda with which the upcoming “United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development”, Rio+20, has been convened seeks to lay solid foundations for a world of peace, prosperity and sustainability, including through: (1) the strengthening political commitments in favour of sustainable development; (2) an assessment of the progress and difficulties in implementing the agenda drawn up 20 years ago; and (3) the responses to the emerging issues. 2. The world currently faces a plethora of environmental problems. Some have been recognised by the scientific community, although they have failed to draw the attention of policymakers. These problems are considered "emerging environmental issues" from the standpoint of decision makers. It has been necessary to identify the issues in order to report on them and to provide adequate support to the designing of relevant policies. Because of the large number of issues, identifying and prioritising those requiring the most urgent attention has constituted a challenge for UNEP. 3. To meet this challenge, UNEP organised a global prospective process to identify, classify and select emerging environmental issues. Initially this involved the Science Focal Points of the different UNEP Divisions and its network of Multilateral Environmental Agreements. The outcome of this consultation was then systematised by an initial panel of experts and subsequently submitted to the consideration of: (1) a vast global network of prominent scientists; and (2) a network of representatives of the Major Groups and stakeholders. In addition, emerging issues were identified based on the GEO-5 process. Latin  America  and the  Caribbean 13%

Asia  Pacific 15%

North  America 18% West Asia 10%

Asia Pacific 19%

Latin  America  and the  Caribbean 6%

North  America 24% West Asia 3%

Europe 27%

Africa 17% Total response of scientists = 423

Europe 29%

Africa 19% Total response of major groups= 329

Figure 1: Statistics of responses by regions and groups of stakeholders: scientists (left), and Major Groups (right).

4. The exercise resulted in a list of 68 critical topics, from which the 26 most important were classified into five thematic groups: (i) Cross-Cutting Issues, (ii) Food, Land and Biodiversity Issues, (iii) Freshwater and Marine Issues,

 

3 

UNEP/LAC-IG.XVIII/5 

(iv)

Climate Change Issues, and

(v)

Energy, Technology and Waste Issues.

5. This ranked list was submitted to the scientific community and to the representatives of the Major Groups and Stakeholders in Latin America and the Caribbean (see figure 1 with the level of responses by region), in order to identify the region's 10 priority emerging issues. 6. Given that the initial list contained highly asymmetric issues and stemmed from an extremely complex prior selection drawing on the combined criteria of many global experts from a number of specialised fields, the issues selected by the aforementioned scientific and other representatives coincided only to a limited extent. Consequently, the final summary put forth herein gives greater priority to some general issues than to other more specific ones, in order for the analysis to allow for a more global vision while also including specific topics. In any event, the list, rather than exhaustive, is indicative of the emerging issues common to the region.

1. Emerging issues: the 10 most relevant issues for Latin America and the Caribbean

7. The 10 issues selected based on the prospective exercise of UNEP, ranked according to their relevance to the general thematic groups, are as follows: i. Cross-Cutting Issues 1.

Aligning governance to the challenges of global sustainability

2.

Broken bridges: Reconnecting science and policy

3.

Social tipping points? Catalysing rapid and transformative change in human behaviour for the environment

ii. Food, Land and Biodiversity issues 4.

New challenges for ensuring food safety and food security for the nine billion projected for 2050

5.

The need for novel governance arrangements to promote sustainable land management

iii. Freshwater and marine issues 6.

The new challenges to water availability require that this resource be used efficiently

7.

The potential collapse of oceanic systems requires integrated ocean governance

iv. Climate change 8.

The need to take action in the face of signs of climate change which manifest as increased frequency of extreme weather events

v. Energy, Technology, and Waste Issues 9.

Accelerating the implementation of renewable energy systems

10. Greater risk than necessary? The need for modern arrangements to minimising risks from new technologies and chemicals

UNEP/LAC-IG.XVIII/5 

i. Cross-Cutting Issues Although the issues selected in this document are globally relevant regardless of the national or regional realities in question, consideration must be given to the dynamics seen in the region, and their influence on the setting of agendas, in some cases to a much more significant degree than any of the selected topics taken individually. Examples of this are the dynamics of subregional integration agreements on trade (Southern Common Market, Andean Community of Nations, Central American Common Market, Caribbean Community, among others) or infrastructure (MesoAmerican Integration and Development Project, Initiative for the Integration of Regional Infrastructure in South America), or the manner in which the global recomposition of capital flows affects the region, with the new regional roles and leadership that some countries have assumed.

1.1

Aligning governance to the challenges of global sustainability

8. The current system of international environmental governance, with its maze of interlocking multilateral agreements and institutions (see an example of governance of the Caribbean Sea in figure 2), evolved during the twentieth century and is believed by many to be unsuited to the twenty-first century. Some commentators believe that this system lacks the necessary representativeness, accountability and effectiveness for a transition to sustainability, and that a much higher degree of coordination, participation and transparency is needed. New models of governance are being tried, ranging from public-private partnerships to alliances of environmental and other civil society groups. However, the effectiveness of novel governance arrangements is unclear and requires further scrutiny. 9. In the 20 years since the Earth Summit, the depth of the transformations and crises experienced by the region and the world (box 1) have underscored the inadequacy or insufficiency of the instruments and mechanisms created to cope with a situation that has only grown more complex and whose most critical trends have only intensified. Box 1: General data on the global environmental situation Despite the relative success in these 20 years in popularizing the concept of sustainable development, the state of the global and regional environment has not improved. Periodic scientific studies and assessments show that, overall, between one third and one half of the planet's land surface has been transformed by human activity. The most recent report on the Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) estimates that in the last century 35 per cent of the mangrove swamps and 40 per cent of the forests have ben lost, while 50 per cent of the wetlands and 60 per cent of the ecosystem services have been degraded in the last 50 years. Species loss is between 100 and 1,000 times greater than in geological times, and will worsen with climate change. Eighty per cent of the fish stocks in the world are fully exploited or overexploited, and the critical limits are being exceeded; for example, coral reefs are at risk of collapse unless urgent action is taken to lower carbon emissions. Regarding Latin America and the Caribbean, it is estimated that, of the 5 million hectares of net annual deforestation in the world, 4 million occur in South America. Source: FAO (2011).

 

5 

UNEP/LAC-IG.XVIII/5 

Figure 2: An example of the complexity of the legal, political and diplomatic governance mechanism of the Caribbean Sea in terms of the three basic topics of sustainable development. Institutions and stakeholders that are an integral part of governance are not represented in this figure. Source: Singh (2008).

1.2

Broken bridges: Reconnecting science and policy

10. The ability of society to cope with global environmental change requires strategies and policies that are underpinned by a strong science and knowledge base. However, it is felt that the linkage between the policy and science communities is inadequate or deteriorating, and that this “broken bridge” is hindering the development of solutions to global environmental change. This problem requires taking a new look at the way science is organised and how the science-policy interface can be improved. 11. In the triangle formed by Development – Science and Technology – Public Policy, interaction between the first side of the triangle and the other two would appear to occur independently, indicating an increasingly large gap between, on the one hand, academic theory and the scientific community and, on the other, the pragmatism of decision makers. Thus the second and third sides fail to engage in a fruitful dialogue in favour of a convergent agenda to finally close the triangle. This situation has arisen despite the fact that between 1999 and 2008

UNEP/LAC-IG.XVIII/5 

the number of scientific publications in the region doubled (figure 3) and 83.6 per cent of the knowledge management in Latin America and the Caribbean takes place at universities and laboratories that depend on the Governments. By contrast, in industrialised countries, the share is only of 31.7 per cent and most research is linked to and financed by productive enterprises (UNEP, 2010).

Figure 3: Number of publications in the Science Citation Index (Source: RICyT, 2010).

12. In terms of the challenges that this situation poses for Latin America and the Caribbean, one of the most important aspects of the current moment, strategically and politically, is the interconnectedness of economic, ecological, cultural, political, social and demographic processes as a result of the intersection between globalisation and the growing ecological interdependence in the world. Today is it practically impossible to isolate any country from the global economic system, or, obviously, from the global ecological system. This poses methodological, strategic and institutional challenges for the scientific community in terms of the need for a holistic or systemic approach to problems of sustainable development, as opposed to the analytical approaches that are compartmentalised in increasingly specialised disciplines and are the dominant methodology of present-day science and technology systems, as reflected in the their activities and priorities (ECLAC, 2003). 13. The public policy side of the triangle makes clear that sectoral specificities in public management have been compartmentalised while the need for integrated planning and development processes demanding much more than a simple transfer or adaptation of technology from global processes to regional methods is overlooked. 14. From this perspective, the element that can bridge the two spheres of knowledge is the local, national, subregional and regional reality on which each of these types of approaches is based. The main challenges facing environmental sustainability and scientific strategies and policies in Latin American and

 

7 

UNEP/LAC-IG.XVIII/5 

Caribbean countries lie in carrying out new and more in-depth research on natural heritage so as to learn about the attributes and behaviour of ecosystems and discover new development opportunities (UNEP, 2010). Given the scarce resources allocated to research and development—the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean earmark on average only 0.6 per cent of GDP to such activities1—academic partnerships must be strengthened in order to exchange experiences and findings and boost both human and material resources in the region. 1.3

Social tipping points? Catalysing rapid and change in human behaviour for the environment

transformative

15. New social science research has articulated the way in which damaging human behaviour can be transformed by public policy in a positive direction within a relatively short period of time. These insights raise questions on the possibility of applying these methods to attempts to transform the consumption habits that lead to destructive environmental changes, and on what incentives-– economic, informative and prohibitive—would work best to achieve this transformation. 16. One of the most significant legacies of the 1992 Earth Summit was the emphasis on the need for a shift in the consumption and production paradigm that already characterised the world's largest economies. For example, as a social and political debate on the topic of sustainable consumption and production in the region, new constitutions in Ecuador (2008) and Bolivia (2009) have incorporated, as a guiding principle, people's right to live in a healthy and ecologically balanced environment that ensures sustainability and good living and recognised the rights of Mother Earth. In addition, bodies such as the World Social Forum and the recent movements of the “indignants” have emerged in various countries of Europe and North America in recent months behind the rallying cry of “another world is possible”, in allusion to the unsustainable nature of an economic model that is undermining peaceful coexistence even within the welfare societies of industrialised countries.

                                                         1

Red de Indicadores de Ciencia y Tecnología Iberoamericana e Interamericana (RICYT, 2011).

UNEP/LAC-IG.XVIII/5 

ii. Food, Land and Biodiversity issues This second thematic group comprises three global issues in which the region differs significantly from other continents both qualitatively and quantitatively, and on the basis of which some opportunities but also some threats to the unique conditions of Latin America and the Caribbean can be identified. The issues originally included in this group range from food production and changes in the use of predominantly forest or silvicultural land in order to expand the agricultural frontier, with agribusiness seeking to meet demand for biofuels, livestock and fodder, in the process displacing enormous numbers of rural inhabitants to urban centres whose haphazard growth creates increasingly precarious living conditions. The second group also comprises conflicts related to, and impacts on, governance derived from a tenuously sustainable management of land and water as well as of the diversity of the most biologically diverse region on the planet.

1.4

New challenges for ensuring food safety and food security for the nine billion inhabitants projected for 2050

17. Although food security is a longstanding issue, the world needs to confront a new set of challenges, including competition arising from bioenergy production, declining phosphorus reserves and heightened water scarcity. At the same time, the technologies and practices intended to improve agricultural productivity threaten the environment and food security while global warming fosters the spread of disease. The urgent tasks include: increasing the security and safety of the world’s food supply by improving food processing, reducing food waste and increasing agricultural efficiency (UNEP, 2011). 18. Increasing agricultural efficiency requires diversified and flexible ecoagricultural systems that provide critical ecosystem services, as well as adequate food to meet the needs of local and global consumers (Nellemann and others, 2009). Pressure to produce more and to clear new land for production no longer depends solely on each country's own needs. Economic globalisation means that needs may arise abroad, leading to a situation in which benefits are exported but environmental degradation must be absorbed locally (Lambin and Meyfroidt, 2011). It is essential to introduce policies that will reduce the pressure to transform ecosystems for agricultural activities and will avoid soil degradation in the region. Such policies should promote efficient agricultural production in terms of increasing output per unit area of land, but without the potentially adverse environmental consequences, such as excessive use of agrochemicals that pollute the soil and water as well as increased energy consumption or soil degradation. Greater efficiency and intensity in agriculture could have the additional benefit of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and thus climate change. Incentives for production, efficiency and even marketing must be implemented to make these activities environmentally sustainable and economically viable for producers. 19. A scenario of sustainable intensification of agriculture requires higher public investment in agricultural research. Currently only 5 per cent of worldwide

 

9 

UNEP/LAC-IG.XVIII/5 

total investment in science R&D takes place in this sector. Many countries could reap productivity gains simply by improving their use of existing technologies and practices. Sustainable intensification also means higher yields with less water, fertilisers and pesticides, which requires adjusting priorities in agricultural research, developing new crop varieties, greening high-input agriculture and better managing soil resources through access to information on land use and capability (see box 2). Box 2 Brazil: Agricultural intensification with information on land capability. Certain soya-growing regions of Brazil are using satellite images to identify areas suitable for more intensive cultivation, in addition to data on water availability, soil types and other needed inputs. In addition, the Government began investing in policies such as managing native forests, making better use of lands already deforested and raising agricultural productivity in deforested areas to increase output and keep jobs without deforesting new areas. Brazilian researchers stress the importance of determining current land use to increase livestock production without further expanding the agricultural frontier. Better pasture management can raise fodder output, increasing the number of head of cattle per hectare from 1 to between 3 and 5 (see figure 4). The use of climate zone maps for several key crops has also been proposed, so that government loans will not be used to plant crops in unsuitable areas.

Figure 4: With adequate land use planning, Brazil has the potential to increase its livestock production on existing pastureland without further deforestation. Source: Tollefson

20. An important share of the growing demand for food could be met through food energy efficiency, such as appropriate waste recycling. With new technologies, waste along the human food chain could be used as a substitute for the cereals currently used in animal feed. Energy recovery alternatives, and a reduction in the use of agricultural lands for non-food purposes, will not only raise energy efficiency in food production but also contribute to a large degree to conserving biodiversity and other natural resources as well as the communities and cultures that they these lands sustain (Nellemann and others, 2009).

UNEP/LAC-IG.XVIII/5 

1.5

The need for novel governance arrangements to promote sustainable land management

21. There is a potential to create more sustainable land management practices through more effective and inclusive governance arrangements underpinned on four pillars: (1) an economic system that properly values natural resources; (2) meeting the parallel demands for food, fuel and animal feed; (3) creating sustainable consumption patterns that recognise and reduce resource depletion and ecosystem degradation; (4) encouraging capacity development and inclusive participation approaches that recognise local indigenous values regarding land management. Box 3 Principles for responsible agricultural investment: Respecting rights, livelihoods and resources Principle 1: Existing rights to land and associated natural resources should be recognized and respected Principle 2: Investments should not jeopardize food security but rather strengthen it Principle 3: Investment processes in agriculture should be transparent, monitored, and should ensure accountability by all stakeholders, within a proper business, legal and regulatory environment Principle 4: All those materially affected parties should be consulted, and agreements from consultations should be recorded and respected Principle 5: Investors should ensure that projects respect the rule of law, reflect industry´s best practices, are economically viable and result in enduring shared value Principle 6: Investments should generate desirable social and distributional impacts and should not increase vulnerability Principle 7: Environmental impacts of investment projects should be quantified and their magnitude measured, in order to encourage sustainable resource use while minimizing and mitigating the risk and magnitude of negative impacts Source: UNCTAD, 2010

22. In light of the predominantly intraregional interactions and dynamics in this sector, there is potential to promote more sustainable land management practices (see, for example, box 3) through more effective and inclusive governance arrangements that have not been properly communicated or utilised until now. This makes it necessary to carry out a broad multidimensional regional debate on new pillars for governance in the agricultural sector.

 

11 

UNEP/LAC-IG.XVIII/5 

iii. Freshwater and marine issues With 31 per cent of the 35 million km3 of the Earth's freshwater resources, Latin America and the Caribbean is estimated to be the region with the greatest freshwater availability on the planet. These resources are essential to the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, the wide range of species and the various types of human settlements in the region (UNEP, 2010). However, the distribution of these resources is highly unequal among subregions, with the islands of the Caribbean having the smallest volumes of available freshwater (93 km3/year) while the Andean countries (5,238 km3/Year) and Brazil (8,825 km3/year) contain the largest (FAO, 2003). The Amazon River alone releases between 20 and 25 per cent of total surface water on the planet into the oceans. Other important aquatic systems include the Pantanal, the Silver River basin, Lake Titicaca, the closed basin of the high plateau, and the Orinoco basin, all in South America. Besides the regional gaps referred to above, and because of regional geography, there are marked differences within a country or subregion. A very short distance often separates regions with the highest precipitation on the planet from those with the lowest (the Andean - Amazon- foothills and the Atacama Desert for example). The island States of the Caribbean not only face problems due to their limited freshwater supply but have to cope also with the challenge of adapting to climate change and its impact on the variations of sea level and the increasingly frequent meteorological events, which unpredictably threaten the stability of their population, their economy and their environment.

1.6 The new challenges to water availability require this resource be used efficiently 23. Although water scarcity is not a new issue, Latin America and the Caribbean face new challenges that affect the availability of water (pollution caused by new pollutants such as personal-care products and pharmaceuticals, nanoparticles and microplastics, in addition to unsustainable patterns of use, among others). In addition to finding solutions to water scarcity threats caused by new pollutants, the efficient use of this resource requires proper monitoring with innovative measurements, such as virtual water and the water footprint, in order to ensure its equitable distribution. Table 1: Water extracted for human use in proportion to total available renewable water resources Source: FAO, 2010 Region

Africa North Africa North America Latin America and the Caribbean Asia and the Pacific Europe Mashreq (Western Asia) Global average

Proportion of water extracted for human use from renewable resources 1990-2002 (%)

3.8 78.4 8.7 1.4 13.9 5.3 85.1 7.0

UNEP/LAC-IG.XVIII/5 

24. According to the table, Latin America and the Caribbean is the region with the lowest use of surface and ground water in the domestic, agricultural and industrial sectors in proportion to the total annual volume of freshwater available in its regional hydrological cycle. 25. Various studies have shown that about 70 per cent of global freshwater consumption is used in irrigation. It should be noted that, except for processes that have incorporated technological packages and systems that significantly optimise water use, traditional irrigation processes continue to be inefficient. This is because they are rain-fed systems or they have irrigation modalities in which large amounts of water are lost, in extreme cases more than half of the volumes transported. 26. The previous thematic group showed the importance of interactions between land and water, thus this section cannot address efficient water use without referring to the water-energy interface. The largest share of renewable energy generated in the region comes from water sources. Nevertheless, one of the most controversial topics at present are the hydropower megaprojects and their expected and unexpected impacts on the environment and the well-being of the surrounding populations (IPIS, 2011; Silva Soito and Vasconcelos Freitas, 2011). 27. Another important challenge for the region is the provision of water to ever-larger urban concentrations, particularly where climate threatens the sustainability—in terms of both quality and quantity—of water sources (glaciers, aquifers). A related topic is wastewater treatment, as the demand for services is growing faster than the provision of adequate infrastructure, with the risk of solutions becoming part of the problems. 28. Lastly, in addition to finding solutions to the threats posed by water scarcity in arid areas-–especially in border regions–-and the presence of emergent pollutants (industry, mining, agrotoxics), efficient water use requires proper monitoring with innovative measurements, such as virtual water and the water footprint (UNEP, 2011) 2, so as to ensure its equitable distribution and avoid the emergence of potential conflicts. Another proposal calls for paying special attention to the integrated management of transboundary river basins in the region. This initiative could lead to a consensus-based methodology on sustainable water use in transboundary basins, with all stakeholders being called on to participate. The starting point of the initiative could be existing international treaties (Lake Titicaca, Bermejo River, Pilcomayo River, the Amazon Cooperation Treaty, among others), with the contribution of participatory experiences stemming from watershed committees established in the various countries' water laws.

                                                         2

 

Report on the Efficiency in the use of Resources in Latin America (www.pnuma.org/reeo/) 13 

UNEP/LAC-IG.XVIII/5 

1.7 The potential collapse of oceanic systems requires integrated ocean governance 29. The oceans provide many earth system functions including the regulation of weather, climate and the hydrological cycle, as well as providing habitat for a rich diversity of organisms. But the oceanic environment is faced with increasing threats to its long-term integrity including acidification, overfishing, land- and marine-based pollution, widespread habitat destruction and the proliferation of invasive species. There is a growing assumption that the current approach to managing oceans will be ineffective in avoiding a collapse of some oceanic systems, due to the convergence Box 4 of various factors, some of which Fundamental Building blocks of the are natural while others are first cycle of the Regular Process human-induced. Although these All cycles of the Regular Process will need to include the fundamental building blocks listed factors have been foreseen and below if they are to continue to deliver adequately diagnosed for some improvements in marine assessment. The first time, they persist as a result of steps are especially important in order to: powerlessness or incapacity and (a) Build capacity at both individual and institutional levels based on identified priorities; the dispersion of the efforts (b) Improve knowledge and analysis methods ; waged on various fronts. (c) Enhance networking among assessment

processes, international monitoring and research 30. This situation led the United programmes and associated institutions and Nations System to undertake a individuals; broad “Process of global (d) Create communication tools and strategies assessment of the state of the for reaching different target audiences. marine environment, including Source: UNEP, 2009. socio-economic aspects", better known as the “Assessment of Assessments”. As a result, the General Assembly adopted Resolution A/64/L.18 at its sixty-fourth session (2010), establishing a regular procedure (“Regular Process”) to systematically address the complex multi-causal issue of the marine environment and to draw up guidelines for streamlining the international community's efforts. To this end a concrete course of action was proposed for a first cycle (2010-2014), including key elements, institutional provisions and financing.

31. In order to avoid negative impacts on the efficacy of the system due to institutional and regulatory dispersion, the summarised process contained in the Ordinary Process (see box 4) that was adopted by the General Assembly put forward reforms promoting novel governance arrangements, including the option of establishing a new coordinating entity that could centralise international ocean governance (UNEP, 2009c).

UNEP/LAC-IG.XVIII/5 

iv. Climate change A spate of new scientific studies have compared climate modelling results against observational evidence and confirmed the hypothesis that climate change could alter the frequency, strength and distribution of occurrence of extreme weather events. Such studies have linked global warming with increased intensification of precipitation in much of the land area of the northern hemisphere with the consequent greater risk of flooding and increased summer rainfall variability in some regions such as the Caribbean. These studies underscore the urgent need to adapt to a changing frequency of extreme weather events, and suggest the viability of “medium term” early warning systems. Although investments have been made in prevention programmes, as well as in programmes to develop subregional or national early warning systems, the results thus far have been subject to political, cultural, financial and technological constraints. Consequently, monitoring must be strengthened and information produced for early warning systems, and good land use instruments must be improved (UNEP, 2010).

1.8 Acting on the signal of climate change in response to the increased frequency of extreme weather events 32. “An increase in heat waves is almost certain, while heavier rainfall, more floods, stronger cyclones, landslides and droughts will be more intense across the globe this century as the Earth's climate warms”. This prediction was issued by experts of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), who urged countries to devise disaster management projects to adapt to the growing risk of extreme climate change events. 33. In Latin America and the Caribbean the number of storms increased twelvefold between 2000 and 2009 compared with the period from 1970 to 1979, and the number of floods quadrupled. The number of persons adversely affected by extreme temperatures, forest fires, droughts, storms and floods rose from five million in the 1970s to more than forty million in the last decade, as a consequence of both the Figure 5: Social and economic effects of the hydrometeorological growth of human phenomena in LAC, 1990-2010: UNEP and others (2010). settlements in poor urban areas and the greater vulnerability of coastal areas to these events. Damages

 

15 

UNEP/LAC-IG.XVIII/5 

caused by these extreme weather events in the last 10 years are estimated to have cost more than US$ 40 billion (see figure 5). UNEP and others, 2010). 34. Although the region's share of greenhouse gas emissions is far below that of the largest economies of the planet, recent trends point to significant increases, and many projects currently being carried out pose an unquestionable threat. On the other hand, the region has one of the greatest potentials to mitigate this trend, as it is the planet's most important carbon sink. v. Energy, Technology, and Waste Issues

As the world seeks solutions to climate change it looks increasingly towards implementing renewable energy systems. Although renewable energy has a large potential in the region and many of the technologies that could help change the energy matrix have already been developed and have had an acceptable degree of social acceptance, realizing that potential on the scale required has proven difficult due to a series of obstacles, including, to a significant degree, the market orientation of these processes. An important pending task is to identify ways to eliminate the economic, regulatory and institutional disadvantages that make renewable energy less competitive than conventional energy sources. In addition, the growing technological obsolescence and processes of accelerated replacement in every sector are generating huge volumes of new chemical, biological and electronic waste for which there is no equally developed response capacity.

1.9 Accelerating the implementation of renewable energy systems 35. The persistence of an energy matrix markedly dependent on fossil fuels (see figure 6) indicates, from an environmental standpoint, that the region will increasingly contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, which account for the largest share of human-induced global warming. From an economic standpoint, however, this situation undoubtedly points to the region's vulnerability to variations in international energy commodity prices, which can trigger—and on occasion have triggered—serious economic crises. 36. A debate is needed on the measures and opportunities for developing non-conventional sources of renewable energy that might modify the energy matrix within the next few decades. This requires that measures be adopted and implemented as quickly as possible, as the needed investments have a long maturation period and entail technological components and the adoption of tax and other incentives to bring their production costs into line with those of current conventional sources, the costs of which are distorted by perverse incentive policies that favour their use in the current context. 37.

Figure 6. Energy supply in Latin America

The emergence of the lithium option and the current weak development of

UNEP/LAC-IG.XVIII/5 

renewable energies represent, at a minimum, an opportunity for the region to engage in a debate on reaching a shared view of the development process in Latin America and the Caribbean. This shared view might be expressed in an “agreement on energy for sustainable development” bringing together the opinions of various institutional as well as social stakeholders. 1.10 Have we accelerated the pace of risks more than necessary? The need for modern approaches to minimise risks from new technologies and toxic chemicals 38. A model has taken shape in which society first produces new technologies and chemical or biological substances and only afterwards attempts to evaluate their impact. The latest examples are the questions raised by applications of synthetic biology and nanotechnology, the increase in the volume of chemicals produced and the rapid transition in the manufacture of chemicals from developed countries to developing countries without adequate plans for a management infrastructure. 39. With the accelerated pace at which novel technologies and chemicals are being deployed, a new approach is needed for their implications to be systematically and comprehensively assessed before they reach the production phase, with the aim of minimising their risks to society and nature. Although this is being done in some parts of the world, mainly for some technologies and chemicals, it needs to become a universal approach, which may require new forms of international governance and the consistent implementation of the often-overlooked precautionary principle. 40. The debate on the risks of using transgenic material and seeds in agriculture is well known. Although the issue is far from settled, 10 Latin American countries are using transgenic crops3 (IICA, 2008, ISAAA 2011). There is hence an urgent need for adequate and cost-effective regulatory systems. Efforts should be made to promote the development of national biosecurity frameworks combining legal, policy, administrative and technical instruments. 41. Moreover, for about the last 10 years, consumers all over the world have been on alert owing to the frequent cases of food contamination caused by poor management of chemicals or waste from the food industry. In addition to "natural" contamination, consumers are concerned by food products that have to be removed from the market because they have been contaminated during the industrial processing stage. A higher level of alarm is raised by dioxincontaminated food (WHO, 2010). Although legal actions have been taken and controls have been implemented at several points along the supply and distribution chains, serious accidents continue to occur. 42. There is a need to evaluate the dimensions and effects of accidents on human health and the economy, identify the sources and the origin of the problems, propose ways to prevent them as well as establish the requirements of

                                                         3

Agentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Mexico, Paraguay and Uruguay, as well as Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Honduras. In the latter four the areas are much smalleralthough growing (IICA, 2008; ISAAA 2011).

 

17 

UNEP/LAC-IG.XVIII/5 

efficient control programmes. 1.11 A new governance for sustainable development 43. Ever since, more than twenty years ago, the countries of the Region began to build environmental agendas, they have made undeniable progress in terms of establishing an increasingly broad and intricate regulatory framework with associated policies, plans, programmes and projects as well as institutions to assume responsibility for implementing the action proposed in such instruments (UNEP, 2010). 44. However, efforts to bring about sustainable development continue to be thwarted by the multiplication and dispersion of environmental agencies within government structures that favour given sectors (mining, energy, hydrocarbons, agriculture, forestry, conservation, among others) over an integrated vision to, in a cross-cutting manner, orient planning and resource allocation more efficiently and rationally.

UNEP/LAC-IG.XVIII/5 

Bibliography Baumeister, E. 2011. Impactos de la concentración y transnacionalización de la tierra en Centroamérica y México. Seminario FAO/RLC “Dinámicas en el mercado de la tierra en América Latina y el Caribe”. Santiago de Chile, 14 y 15 de noviembre 2011. Borras, S., 2011. Land grabbing in Latin America and the Caribbean viewed from broader international perspectives. FAO Workshop, 14-15 November 2011, Santiago, Chile Cabeza A. M. 2002. Ordenación del Territorio en América Latina. Scripta Nova REVISTA ELECTRÓNICA DE GEOGRAFÍA Y CIENCIAS SOCIALES, Vol. VI, núm. 125, 1 de octubre de 2002. CEDHA (Centro de Derechos Humanos y Ambiente), 2011. Reducción de las Emisiones de Agentes Climáticos de Corta Duración (SLCF) en América Latina. Disponible en: http://wp.cedha.net/ CEPAL(Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe) 2003. Ciencia y tecnología para el desarrollo sostenible. Una perspectiva latinoamericana y caribeña. Gallopin, G. (compliador) CEPAL, Santiago de Chile. CEPAL (Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe), 2008. Inversión Extranjera Directa en América Latina y el Caribe. CEPAL (Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe), 2009. Cambio Climático y Desarrollo en América Latina y el Caribe. Una Reseña. Disponible en: http://www.eclac.cl/publicaciones/xml/5/35435/28-W-232Cambio_Climatico-WEB.pdf CEPAL (Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe), 2009b. Estadísticas de América Latina y el Caribe. Disponible en: http://websie.eclac.cl/sisgen/ConsultaIntegrada.asp?idAplicacion=2 Cronkleton, P., Taylor, P., Barry, y D., 2008. Environmental governance and the emergence of forest-based social movements CIFOR, Jakarta. Disponible en: http://www.cifor.cgiar. org/publications/pdf_files/OccPapers/OP- 49.pdf EPE (Empresa de Pesquisa Energética), 2011. Projeto da Usina Hidrelétrica de Belo Monte. Fatos e Dados. Disponible en: http://www.epe.gov.br FAO, (Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Agricultura y la Alimentación), 2007. State of the World’s Forests. FAO 2010. AQUASTAT: FAO’s Information System on Water and Agriculture. Food and Agriculture Organisation, Rome. http://www.fao.org/nr/water/aquastat/main/index.stm FAO 2011. Sudamérica, la peor en deforestación a nivel mundial. Entrevista de Eduardo Rojas, jefe del departamento forestal de la FAO, en BCC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/mundo/noticias/2011/11/111130_desforestacion_fao _satelite_am.shtml [acceso 5 Diciembre 2011] Fearnside, P. (2006) Dams in the Amazon: Belo Monte and Brazil Hydroelectric Development of the Xingu River Basin. Environmental Management Vol. 38, No. 1, pp. 16–27 IICA (Instituto Interamericano de Cooperación para la Agricultura), 2008. Agrobiotecnología en América Latina y el Caribe: estado actual de su desarrollo y adopción. San José: Costa Rica, 62pp.

 

19 

UNEP/LAC-IG.XVIII/5 

IAASTD, 2008. Evaluación internacional del conocimiento, ciencia y tecnología en el desarrollo agrícola en América Latina y el Caribe. ISAAA 2011. Global Status of Commercialised Biotech/GM Crops: 2010. Disponible en: http://www.isaaa.org/resources/publications/briefs/42/executivesummary/d efault.asp IBGE, 2006. Censo Agropecuario, Brasil. Disponible en: www.ibge.gov.br/home/estatistica/economia/agropecuaria/censoagro/2006/defa ult.shtm, accesado el 29 de octubre de 2008. IPCC, 2011. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Nota de prensa, Kampala 18.11.11. Disponible en: http://www.ipcc.ch/news_and_events/docs/srex/SREX_press_release_sp.pd f IPS (Inter Press Service), 2011. Belo Monte marca cambio radical de política exterior. Disponible en: www.ipsnoticias.net, accesado el 24 de octubre de 2011. Lambin, E. and Meyfroidt, P. 2011. Global land use change, economic globalisation, and the looming land scarcity. PNAS, vol. 108: 3465-3472. Nature, 2010. The growing problema. Nature, vol. 466:546-547. Nellemann, C., MacDevette, M., Manders, T., Eickhout, B., Svihus, B., Prins, A. G., y Kaltenborn, B. P. (Eds). 2009. The environmental food crisis – The environment’s role in averting future food crises. A UNEP rapid response assessment. United Nations Environment Programme, GRID-Arendal. Disponible en: www.grida.no OMS (Organización Mundial de la Salud), 2010. Las dioxinas y sus efectos en la salud humana. Datos y cifras. Disponible en: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs225/es/index.html Pacheco, P., Barry, D., Cronkleton, P., Larson, A., 2008. The role of informal institutions in the use of forest resources in Latin America. CIFOR. Forest Governance Programme. No. 15-2008. PNUMA (Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Medio Ambiente), 2009. PNUMA Anuario: Avances y progresos científicos en nuestro cambiante medio ambiente. Disponible en: www.unep.org/geo/yearbook/ PNUMA (Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Medio Ambiente), 2009b. Food Security: Will the next revolution be more sustainable?. Disponible en: www.unep.org PNUMA (Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Medio Ambiente), 2009c. La Evaluación de Evaluaciones Conclusiones del Grupo de Expertos En cumplimiento de la Resolución 60/30 de la Asamblea General de las Naciones Unidas. Resumen para los Encargados de Adoptar Decisiones. Disponible en: www.pnuma.org/DEWA/pdf/AoA/AoA+SDM+layout_SPANISH+LR.pdf PNUMA (Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Medio Ambiente), 2010. Perspectivas del Medio Ambiente: América Latina y el Caribe. GEO ALC 3. Disponible en: http://www.pnuma.org/geo/geoalc3 PNUMA, CEPAL, GRID-Arendal, 2010. Gráficos vitales del cambo climático para

UNEP/LAC-IG.XVIII/5 

América Latina y el Caribe. PNUMA (Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Medio Ambiente), 2011. Anuario. Disponible en: http://www.unep.org/yearbook/2011/pdfs/UNEP_YEARBOOK_SPANISH_final_low -res.pdf PNUMA (Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Medio Ambiente), 2011. División de Legislación y Convenciones Ambientales (DELC), Boletines # 1, 2, 3, 4. Disponibles en: www.pnuma.org Poully, M. et al, 2009. Dinámica de inundación, emisión de gas y tasa de mercurio en peces en el Norte Amazónico boliviano. Hacia una cuantificación de los impactos del proyecto hidroeléctrico del río Madera. Proyecto WWF-IRD-Instituto de Ecología UMSA #OC22. Disponible en: www.ore-hybam.org/index.../Pouilly&-09%20(Madera-WWF).pdf Schutter, O. 2009. Informe sobre “Las adquisiciones y arrendamientos de tierra a gran escala” del Relator Especial sobre el Derecho a la Alimentación del ONU. Disponible en www.srfood.org Singh, Asha (2008) Governance in the Caribbean Sea: Implications for Sustainable Development. Research Paper, United Nations/Nippon Foundation Fellowship, 122 pp. Silva Soito, J. y Vasconcelos Freitas, M. (2011) Amazon and the expansion of hydropower in Brazil: Vulnerability, impacts and possibilities for adaptation to global climate change. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 15: 3165–3177 Simon Fraser University, 2009. Climate change and extreme weather: Designing Adaptation Policy. Disponible en: www.sfu.ca/ACT Stockholm Environment Institute, 2011. Energy-Water-Climate Planning for Development without Carbon in Latin America and the Caribbean. Disponible en: http://www.sei-international.org/ TEEB, 2011. The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity. Disponible en http://www.teebweb.org/ Tollefson, J. 2010. The global farm. Nature, vol 466: 554-556. UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development), 2010. Principles for Responsible Agricultural Investment that Respects Rights, Livelihoods and Resources. A discussion note prepared by FAO, IFAD, the UNCTAD Secretariat and the World Bank Group to contribute to an ongoing global dialogue. Geneva, 26-30 April 2010. Disponible en: http://www.unctad.org/en/docs/ciicrp3_en.pdf

 

21 

UNEP/LAC-IG.XVIII/5 

List of Acronyms and Abbreviations ECLAC FAO GEO IPCC IPS TEEB UNCTAD UNEP WHO

Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean Food the Agriculture Organisation Global Environmental Outlook International Panel on Climate Change Inter Press Service The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity United Nations Conference on Trade and Commerce United Nations Environment Programme World Health Organisation