Chapter 2: State and Trends
A
each integrated
ll of the GEO-6 regional assessments follow the traditional Drivers, Pressures, State, Impacts and Response (DPSIR) assessment framework; however, environmental assessment considers
the elements of this framework in a regional context. For LAC drivers of environmental change include economic development, population growth, climate change, natural hazards, technological innovation, and governance frameworks. Unsustainable consumption and production, highlighted in the regional priorities, affect sectors such as energy, mining as well as both commercial and personal consumption.
This Chapter of the Regional Assessment considers these drivers and the pressures they exert on the environment by analysing the recent trends in the state of the environment as well as the impacts of this environmental change on human health, productive activities and ecosystems. The analysis is conducted according to four environmental themes, namely:
•
Air, including common and toxic air pollutants as well as GHG emissions;
• Freshwater, including quantity and quality; • Oceans, including pollution sources and commercial activities;
• Land, including fragmentation and degradation; and • Biota, including both plant and animal biodiversity.
2.1 Air 2.1.1 Overview and main messages
The atmosphere is a thin and delicate layer that constitutes a key link between humans and ecosystems. Its role in biogeochemical cycles is vital in keeping planet Earth functioning within boundaries that enable life to exist in the way we know it. Anthropogenic air emissions are changing the natural composition of the atmosphere at unprecedented rates (UNDESA, UNEP and UNCTAD 2012) and might lead to local, regional and global impacts on health, environment, society and the economy (IPCC 2014).
Key Messages: Air
There have been sharp increases in concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, surpassing planetary limits for climate change (Steffen et al. 2015). GHG emissions are growing rapidly in the region as a result of urbanization, economic growth, energy consumption and land use changes, among other chief factors (IPCC 2014).
According to the World Bank (2015), carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels and the manufacture of cement in LAC have increased in absolute terms, +14.18 per cent in the period 2006-2011, although their levels as a proportion of GDP (kg per PPP USD of GDP) have declined by 14.35 per cent in the same period. In 2005, the region’s countries accounted for almost 10 per cent of global GHG emissions (EC 2016). More recent figures confirm such a level with 10.6 per cent reported in 2012 (EC 2016).
Urban growth has been described as a major pressure of air pollution in LAC, due mainly to increased energy consumption and transport. In the past decade there has been a dramatic increase in private car ownership in countries in the region with high GDP growth (UN-Habitat 2013). The countries with the biggest growth in the total number of cars between 2005 and 2008 are Mexico (8 543 807), Chile (768 874) and Peru (328 692). Suriname leads the list of countries with the highest number of cars per 100 habitants (30.3), followed by Mexico (27.8), Uruguay (21.7) and Chile (19.8) (UNECLAC 2015b).
Credit: Shutterstock/ elnavegante 31
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