Memoria del Foro Regional sobre Comercio y Medio Ambiente Realizado en San Salvador del 7 al 10 de julio de 1999

The report details the proceedings of the Regional Forum on Trade and Environment (July 1999), arguing that Central American countries must move beyond passive trade openness to a proactive regional strategy. It identifies the region's high biodiversity and renewable energy potential as competitive advantages that can be leveraged through organic agriculture, certified forestry, and environmental services. The document emphasizes the need for a unified position within the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) to prevent unilateral environmental restrictions and to promote sustainable development. Key recommendations include shifting from traditional agriculture to agroforestry, adopting organic production, and creating a regional certification system.

• Central America possesses significant natural competitive advantages, including approximately 7% of global biodiversity, 38% forest cover, and a renewable energy potential exceeding 30,000 megawatts.
• The region's agricultural model is in crisis due to four primary failures: an institutional structure that encourages environmental degradation through subsidies, a focus on maximum yield per hectare over sustainable optimums, a technological dependence on imported inputs, and a reliance on low-value primary commodities.
• To achieve international competitiveness and environmental harmony, Central American agriculture must transition toward three pillars: shifting to an agroforestry axis, replacing 1960s-70s technology with organic low-impact farming, and implementing a regional production and marketing policy for high environmental quality products.
• The region faces severe environmental threats, including an average annual deforestation rate of 392,000 hectares and the burning of 1.4 million hectares in 1998 alone.
• There is a critical lack of a unified regional agenda for trade and environment, leaving Central American countries vulnerable to having environmental standards and interests imposed by the United States and Europe.
• The sale of environmental services, such as carbon sequestration, represents a significant financial opportunity; the region's potential carbon fixation is estimated at 56 million metric tons per year, which could generate $560 million annually at $10 per ton.
• Certified forestry is an expanding business in the region, with 176,736 hectares certified across 16 Management Units (UMF), though the market is currently dominated by Costa Rica.
• The World Trade Organization's (WTO) Committee on Trade and Environment operates under ten mandates to promote sustainable development, but developing countries often perceive the agenda as biased toward the interests of Northern nations.

APA

International Institute for Sustainable Development (1999). Memoria del Foro Regional sobre Comercio y Medio Ambiente Realizado en San Salvador del 7 al 10 de julio de 1999. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/ormaiisd.pdf

Chicago

International Institute for Sustainable Development. Memoria del Foro Regional sobre Comercio y Medio Ambiente Realizado en San Salvador del 7 al 10 de julio de 1999. 1999. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/ormaiisd.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=International Institute for Sustainable Development |title=Memoria del Foro Regional sobre Comercio y Medio Ambiente Realizado en San Salvador del 7 al 10 de julio de 1999 |date=September 1999 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/ormaiisd.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{internationalinstituteforsustainabledevelopment1999memoria, author = {{International Institute for Sustainable Development}}, title = {{Memoria del Foro Regional sobre Comercio y Medio Ambiente Realizado en San Salvador del 7 al 10 de julio de 1999}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {1999}, month = sep, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/ormaiisd.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }