Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean 2016: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the challenges of financing for development

This, the sixty-eighth edition of the Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean, which corresponds to the year 2016, consists of three parts. Part I outlines the region’s economic performance in 2015 and analyses trends in the first half of 2016, as well as the outlook for the rest of the year. It examines the external and internal factors influencing the region’s economic performance and highlights some of the macroeconomic policy challenges that have arisen in an external context of weak growth and high levels of uncertainty. Part II analyses the challenges that the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean face at the domestic and international levels in mobilizing financing for development. On the domestic front, slower growth and tighter fiscal restrictions pose significant challenges for the mobilization of resources. Externally, the classification of many of the region’s countries in the middle-income category limits their access to concessional external financing or international support. Part III of this publication may be accessed on the web page of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (www.eclac.org). It contains the notes relating to the economic performance of the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean in 2015 and the first half of 2016, together with their respective statistical annexes. The cut-off date for updating the statistical information in this publication was 30 June 2016.

The 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals: An opportunity for Latin America and the Caribbean

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by the 193 Member States of the United Nations at the General Assembly in September 2015, outlines a transformative vision for economic, social and environmental development and will guide the work of the Organization towards this vision for the next 15 years. This new road map presents a historic opportunity for Latin America and the Caribbean, since it addresses some of the region’s most urgent priorities, such as reducing inequality in all its dimensions, promoting inclusive economic growth with decent work for all, creating sustainable cities and addressing climate change. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) associated with the Agenda help the region’s countries to gauge the starting point from which they set out towards this new, collective vision of sustainable development set forth in the 2030 Agenda and to analyse and craft the means of its implementation. The SDGs also represent a planning tool for the countries at the national and local levels. With their long-term approach, they offer support for each country on its path towards sustained, inclusive and environmentally friendly development, through the formulation of public policies and budget, monitoring and evaluation instruments. The 2030 Agenda is a civilizing agenda that places dignity and equality at the centre. At once far-sighted and ambitious, its implementation will require the engagement of all sectors of society and of the State. Accordingly, the representatives of governments, civil society, academic institutions and the private sector are invited to take ownership of this ambitious agenda, to discuss and embrace it as a tool for the creation of inclusive, fair societies that serve the citizens of today as well as future generations.

Horizons 2030: Equality at the centre of sustainable development. Summary

The world is living a change of era. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals represent the international community’s response to the economic, distributive and environmental imbalances built up under the prevailing development pattern. This document, presented by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) to its member States at its thirty-sixth session, provides an analytical complement to the 2030 Agenda from a structuralist perspective and from the point of view of the Latin American and Caribbean countries. The proposals made here stem from the need to achieve progressive structural change in order to incorporate more knowledge into production, ensure social inclusion and combat the negative impacts of climate change. The reflections and proposals for advancing towards a new development pattern are geared to achieving equality and environmental sustainability. In these proposals, the creation of global and regional public goods and the corresponding domestic policies form the core for expanding the structuralist tradition towards a global Keynesianism and a development strategy centred around an environmental big push.

Horizons 2030: Equality at the centre of sustainable development

The world is living a change of era. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals represent the international community’s response to the economic, distributive and environmental imbalances built up under the prevailing development pattern. This document, presented by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) to its member States at its thirty-sixth session, provides an analytical complement to the 2030 Agenda from a structuralist perspective and from the point of view of the Latin American and Caribbean countries. The proposals made here stem from the need to achieve progressive structural change in order to incorporate more knowledge into production, ensure social inclusion and combat the negative impacts of climate change. The reflections and proposals for advancing towards a new development pattern are geared to achieving equality and environmental sustainability. In these proposals, the creation of global and regional public goods and the corresponding domestic policies form the core for expanding the structuralist tradition towards a global Keynesianism and a development strategy centred around an environmental big push.

Briefs for GSDR - Urban stormwater reuse: An agenda for sustainable development

We treat urban stormwater as a problem as it causes flooding, transports pollutants and degrades the ecosystem health of waterways (Goonetilleke et al., 2014). Municipal authorities devote a significant component of their budget to capture and remove stormwater from urban areas as rapidly as possible. Unfortunately, it is a largely unappreciated fact that urban stormwater is the last available uncommitted water resource for our cities as the demand for potable water escalates due to growing urbanisation, industrialisation and higher living standards.

Integrating Land-use Planning and Transportation in Belfast: A New Policy Agenda for Sustainable Development

Much of the interest in promoting sustainable development in planning for the city-region focuses on the apparently inexorable rise in the demand for car travel and the contribution that certain urban forms and land-use relationships can make to reducing energy consumption. Within this context, policy prescription has increasingly favoured a compact city approach with increasing urban residential densities to address the physical separation of daily activities and the resultant dependency on the private car. This paper aims to outline and evaluate recent efforts to integrate land use and transport policy in the Belfast Metropolitan Area in Northern Ireland. Although considerable progress has been made, this paper underlines the extent of existing car dependency in the metropolitan area and prevailing negative attitudes to public transport, and argues that although there is a rhetorical support for the principles of sustainability and the practice of land-use/transportation integration, this is combined with a selective reluctance to embrace local changes in residential environment or in lifestyle preferences which might facilitate such principles.

Hambre y Derecho a la Alimentación: la agenda 2030 en Centroamérica y la República Dominicana

Al abordar el problema del hambre y la desnutrición, la más reciente Conferencia Regional sobre Desarrollo Social de América Latina y el Caribe organizada por la CEPAL (Lima, Perú, 2 a 4 de noviembre de 2015) puso énfasis en la necesidad de tratar estos asuntos desde la óptica del derecho a la alimentación, establecido en la Declaración Universal de los Derechos Humanos y el Pacto de Derechos Económicos, Sociales y Culturales. En el documento preparatorio de dicha conferencia se señala que el Objetivo 2 de los Objetivos para el Desarrollo Sostenible es relevante en tanto aborda la problemática de la alimentación y la nutrición de una manera más integral y considera la seguridad alimentaria como un derecho humano fundamental, cuya conculcación limita la capacidad de ejercicio de los derechos políticos y el desarrollo de una democracia participativa. En línea con este planteamiento, uno de los objetivos principales de este estudio es conocer el estado del arte que en la subregión ha tenido el enfoque de derechos en las políticas de seguridad alimentaria y nutricional y, en particular, la promoción del derecho humano a la alimentación,

Agenda 2030 y los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible: una oportunidad para América Latina y el Caribe

La Agenda 2030 para el Desarrollo Sostenible, aprobada en septiembre de 2015 por la Asamblea General de las Naciones Unidas, establece una visión transformadora hacia la sostenibilidad económica, social y ambiental de los 193 Estados Miembros que la suscribieron y será la guía de referencia para el trabajo de la institución en pos de esta visión durante los próximos 15 años. Esta nueva hoja de ruta presenta una oportunidad histórica para América Latina y el Caribe, ya que incluye temas altamente prioritarios para la región, como la reducción de la desigualdad en todas sus dimensiones, un crecimiento económico inclusivo con trabajo decente para todos, ciudades sostenibles y cambio climático, entre otros. El conocimiento de los 17 Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS) asociados a esta Agenda ayuda a evaluar el punto de partida de los países de la región y a analizar y formular los medios para alcanzar esta nueva visión del desarrollo sostenible, que se expresó de manera colectiva y quedó plasmada en la Agenda 2030. Los ODS también son una herramienta de planificación para los países, tanto a nivel nacional como local. Gracias a su visión a largo plazo, constituirán un apoyo para cada país en su senda hacia un desarrollo sostenido, inclusivo y en armonía con el medio ambiente, a través de políticas públicas e instrumentos de presupuesto, monitoreo y evaluación. La Agenda 2030 es una agenda civilizatoria, que pone la dignidad y la igualdad de las personas en el centro. Al ser ambiciosa y visionaria, requiere de la participación de todos los sectores de la sociedad y del Estado para su implementación. Por lo tanto, se invita a los representantes de los Gobiernos, la sociedad civil, el ámbito académico y el sector privado a apropiarse de esta ambiciosa agenda, a debatirla y a utilizarla como una herramienta para la creación de sociedades inclusivas y justas, al servicio de las personas de hoy y de futuras generaciones.

Estudio Económico de América Latina y el Caribe 2016: La Agenda 2030 para el Desarrollo Sostenible y los desafíos del financiamiento para el desarrollo

En su edición número 68, que corresponde al año 2016, el Estudio Económico de América Latina y el Caribe consta de tres partes. En la primera se resume el desempeño de la economía regional en 2015 y se analiza la evolución durante el primer semestre de 2016, así como las perspectivas de crecimiento para el año. Se examinan los factores externos e internos que han incidido en el desempeño económico de la región y se destacan algunos de los desafíos para las políticas macroeconómicas en un contexto externo caracterizado por el bajo crecimiento y elevados grados de incertidumbre. En la sección temática de este Estudio se analizan los desafíos que tienen los países de América Latina y el Caribe en el ámbito interno y externo para movilizar el financiamiento del desarrollo. En lo interno, la desaceleración del crecimiento y las mayores restricciones fiscales imponen importantes retos a la movilización de recursos. En lo externo, la condición de países de renta media dificulta el acceso al financiamiento externo concesionado o de la cooperación internacional. La tercera parte, que está disponible en la página web de la CEPAL (www.cepal.org), contiene las notas referentes al desempeño económico de los países de América Latina y el Caribe en 2015 y el primer semestre de 2016, así como los respectivos anexos estadísticos. La información que se presenta ha sido actualizada al 30 de junio de 2016.