Environmental Issues in Latin America and the Caribbean

Environmental Issues in Latin America and the Caribbean

Author: Aldemaro Romero

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2006-02-23

Total Pages: 306

ISBN-13: 1402037740

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This book is a collection of readings that explore environmental issues in Latin America and the Caribbean using natural science and social science methods. These papers demonstrate the value of interdisciplinary approaches to analyze and solve environmental problems. The essays are organized into five parts: conservation challenges; national policies, local communities, and rural development; market mechanisms for protecting public goods; public participation and environmental justice; and the effects of development policies on the environment.


Alternative Pathways to Sustainable Development: Lessons from Latin America

Alternative Pathways to Sustainable Development: Lessons from Latin America

Author: Gilles Carbonnier

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2017-09-18

Total Pages: 366

ISBN-13: 9004351671

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This 9th volume of International Development Policy looks at recent paradigmatic innovations and related development trajectories in Latin America, with a particular focus on the Andean region. It examines the diverse development narratives and experiences in countries such as Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru during a period of high commodity prices associated with robust growth, poverty alleviation and inequality reduction. Highlighting propositions such as buen vivir, this thematic volume questions whether competing ideologies and discourses have translated into different outcomes, be it with regard to environmental sustainability, social progress, primary commodity dependence, or the rights of indigenous peoples. This collection of articles aims to enrich our understanding of recent development debates and processes in Latin America, and what the rest of the world can learn from them. Contributors include: Adriana Erthal Abdenur, Alberto Acosta, Ana Elizabeth Bastida, Luis Bustos, Humberto Campodónico, Gilles Carbonnier, Ana Patricia Cubillo-Guevara, Fernando Eguren, Ricardo Fuentes-Nieva, Eduardo García, Javier Herrera, Antonio Luis Hidalgo-Capitán, Robert Muggah, Gianandrea Nelli Feroci, José Antonio Ocampo, Camilo Andrés Peña Galeano, Guillermo Perry, Darío Indalecio Restrepo Botero, Sergio Tezanos Vázquez, and Frédérique Weyer.


Viability and Sustainability of Small-Scale Fisheries in Latin America and The Caribbean

Viability and Sustainability of Small-Scale Fisheries in Latin America and The Caribbean

Author: Silvia Salas

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2018-06-07

Total Pages: 570

ISBN-13: 3319760785

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One of the main goals in fisheries governance is to promote viability and sustainability in small-scale fishing communities. This is not an easy task given external and internal pressure, including environmental change and competition with other economic sectors searching for development in the coastal region. A comprehensive understanding of small-scale fisheries in their own context, and from a regional perspective, is an important step in supporting the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines on Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries (SSF Guidelines). This book contributes to the global effort by offering knowledge, insights and lessons about small-scale fisheries in Latin America and the Caribbean. The 20 case studies included in the book make explicit the various dimensions that are intrinsic to small-scale fisheries in the region, and identify conditions and situations that affect the wellbeing of fishing communities. The book offers insights regarding the challenges faced by small-scale fisheries in the region, and, aligning with the objectives of the SSF Guidelines, provides lessons and experiences about how to make small-scale fishing communities viable while maintaining sustainable fisheries. This important book illustrates the complexity, diversity, and dynamics of small-scale fisheries in the Latin American and Caribbean region and presents experiences, tools, and approaches to lead towards sustainable and viable fisheries. The reader will gain a new understanding on the range of actions, approaches, and information needed for their successful management. John F. Caddy, International Fisheries Expert This book, prepared by the Too Big To Ignore partnership, constitutes a very valuable resource for policy makers, fisheries scientists, non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations, and fishing communities interested in putting in place sound management strategies, research, and actions to contribute to the sustainability of small-scale fisheries and food security in Latin America and the Caribbean region. Juan Carlos Seijo, Professor of Fisheries Bioeconomics at Marist University of Merida


Reducing Poverty, Protecting Livelihoods, and Building Assets in a Changing Climate

Reducing Poverty, Protecting Livelihoods, and Building Assets in a Changing Climate

Author: Dorte Verner

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2010-06-25

Total Pages: 460

ISBN-13: 0821383787

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Climate change is the defining development challenge of our time. More than a global environmental issue, climate change and variability threaten to reverse recent progress in poverty reduction and economic growth. Both now and over the long run, climate change and variability threatens human and social development by restricting the fulfillment of human potential and by disempowering people and communities in reducing their livelihoods options. Communities across Latin America and the Caribbean are already experiencing adverse consequences from climate change and variability. Precipitation has increased in the southeastern part of South America, and now often comes in the form of sudden deluges, leading to flooding and soil erosion that endanger people s lives and livelihoods. Southwestern parts of South America and western Central America are seeing a decrease in precipitation and an increase in droughts. Increasing heat and drought in Northeast Brazil threaten the livelihoods of already-marginal smallholders, and may turn parts of the eastern Amazon rainforest into savannah. The Andean inter-tropical glaciers are shrinking and expected to disappear altogether within the next 20-40 years, with significant consequences for water availability. These environmental changes will impact local livelihoods in unprecedented ways. Poverty, inequality, water access, health, and migration are and will be measurably affected by climate change. Using an innovative research methodology, this study finds quantitative evidence of large variations in impacts across regions. Many already poor regions are becoming poorer; traditional livelihoods are being challenged in unprecedented ways; water scarcity is increasing, particularly in poor arid areas; human health is deteriorating; and climate-induced migration is already taking place and may increase. Successfully reducing social vulnerability to climate change and variability requires action and commitment at multiple levels. This volume offers key operational recommendations at the government, community, and household levels with particular emphasis placed on enhancing good governance and technical capacity in the public sector, building social capital in local communities, and protecting the asset base of poor households.


Building a New Future

Building a New Future

Author: United Nations

Publisher: UN

Published: 2021-05-31

Total Pages: 232

ISBN-13: 9789211220537

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This publication argues that Latin America and the Caribbean are in a position to move towards a "big push for sustainability" through a combination of economic, industrial, social and environmental policies capable of driving an equal and sustainable recovery and relaunching development in the region. Comprised of five chapters, the publication studies the three crises (slow growth, growing inequality and the environmental emergency) affecting economies and societies around the world, placing particular focus on those of Latin America and the Caribbean. It goes on to present a framework for analysing these crises in an integrated manner and measuring their magnitude in the specified regions. It then examines the quantitative impacts on growth, emissions, income distribution and the external sector under different policy scenarios, highlighting the potential of various policy combinations to forge a more dynamic growth path, with lower emissions and greater equality. Further identifying seven sectors that can drive sustainable development and proposing policies to foster these sectors, the publication concludes with an analysis that links up macroeconomic, industrial, social and environmental policies and the role of the State in building consensus for their implementation.


Is Geography Destiny?

Is Geography Destiny?

Author: John Luke Gallup

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2003-08-04

Total Pages: 187

ISBN-13: 0821383671

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For decades, the prevailing sentiment was that, since geography is unchangeable, there is no reason why public policies should take it into account. In fact, charges that geographic interpretations of development were deterministic, or even racist, made the subject a virtual taboo in academic and policymaking circles alike. 'Is Geography Destiny?' challenges that premise and joins a growing body of literature studying the links between geography and development. Focusing on Latin America, the book argues that based on a better understanding of geography, public policy can help control or channel its influence toward the goals of economic and social development.


At a Crossroads

At a Crossroads

Author: María Marta Ferreyra

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2017-05-18

Total Pages: 387

ISBN-13: 146481015X

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"Higher education in Latin America and the Caribbean has expanded dramatically in the past 15 years, as the average gross enrollment rate has more than doubled, and many new institutions and programs have been opened. Although higher education access has become more equitable, and higher education supply has become more varied, many of the 'new' students in the system are, on average, less academically ready than are their more advantaged counterparts. Furthermore, only half of higher education students, on average, complete their degree, and labor market returns to higher education vary greatly across institutions and programs. Thus, higher education is at a crossroads today. Given the region's urgency to raise productivity in a low-growth, fiscally constrained environment, going past this crossroads requires the formation of skilled human capital fast and efficiently. 'At a Crossroads: Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean' contributes to the discussion by studying quality, variety, and equity of higher education in Latin America and the Caribbean. The book presents comprehensive evidence on the recent higher education expansion and evolution of higher education labor market returns. Using novel data and state-of-the-art methods, it studies demand and supply drivers of the recent expansion. It investigates the behavior of institutions and students and explores the unintended consequences of large-scale higher education policies. Framing the analysis are the singular characteristics of the higher education market and the market segmentation induced by the variety of students and institutions in the system. At this crossroads, a role emerges for incentives, information, accountability, and choice."