GEO-6 Assessment for Latin America and the Caribbean

Key Findings and Policy

Messages Overall picture

The GEO-6 Regional Assessment for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) identifies the main environmental changes that have been observed in the region since GEO-5 (2012) and GEO LAC 3 (2010); and considers priorities for action within the overall framework of the new 2030 sustainability agenda. At the beginning of the GEO-6 process, governments of LAC and other key stakeholder groups (at the GEO REIN Conference held in Panama City in May 2015) identified a number of regional priorities that helped to shape the focus for assessing suitable response options for the region. These priorities included: impacts from climate change and natural hazards; biodiversity and ecosystem services; natural resources and tourism; economic development and sustainable consumption and production; health and environment; land use, land degradation and land planning; environmental governance; environmental information; and communication and public awareness.

The GEO-6 LAC report is structured into four chapters; the first two present the results of the assessment following the Drivers-Pressures-State-Impact-Responses (DPSIR) framework, focusing on 5 major environmental themes (Air, Freshwater, Oceans, Land, and Biodiversity). Chapter 3 evaluates policy progress made in key regional priority areas; reviews particular policy success stories; and assesses the enabling conditions for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals that include the natural environment as an important component/ consideration. Chapter 4 presents a set of regional scenarios, and thereby provides insights into some of the options available to decision-makers as they consider how to move the countries of the region onto more sustainable development pathways.

Key findings

LAC is a biologically rich region with a complex tapestry of political, social and natural contrasts. These contrasts are evident in the spectrum of the sizes of countries and economies; in the diversity of geographical and ecological features; and in the manners in which cultures continue to interact with the natural environment. Within the diversity and contrasts however, LAC economies continue to share a persistent, heavy reliance on primary products and natural resources, which account for approximately 50 per cent of all good exports. On the mainland, there has been an increase in the reliance on exports largely driven by extra- regional demands for commodities such as agricultural products (including soybean, coffee and meat) and mineral resources (ores and metals). These transformations are most prominent in South America, where there was an increase in exports from 24 to 40 per cent between 1990 and 2015. Additionally, in 2013, international tourism receipts were 45 per cent of total exports from the Caribbean region, more than twice the amount earned by Mesoamerica, and 9 times greater than South America.

Urban areas continue to grow in LAC. Urban population increased by more than 35 million people between 2010 and 2015, and is expected to climb to a total of 567 million persons by 2025. Urbanization is highest in South America, with an estimated 346 million people (83 per cent of the population) living in urban areas in 2015. However, the rate of urbanization is fastest in the Caribbean where 62 per cent of the population resided in urban areas at the start of the millennium, increasing to 70 per cent in 2015 and projected to reach 75 per cent in 2025. In most cases, the concentrations of people as well as the patterns of production associated with urbanization exacerbate environmental degradation.

Air quality in cities has declined, and in most cities where data are available, the concentrations of particulate matter and ozone are above the WHO guidelines. This increases the vulnerability of urban dwellers to respiratory diseases;

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