Latinoamérica Sostenible: Cambiando el rumbo hacia una recuperación justa y resiliente

The policy brief analyzes the socio-economic and environmental vulnerabilities of Latin America exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. It argues that traditional economic reactivation measures risk perpetuating structural crises and instead proposes a 'just and resilient recovery' based on four principles: climate action, decent employment, social inclusion, and long-term financing. The document outlines four priorities for governments: applying the 'no-regression' principle to avoid environmental deregulation, ensuring short-term measures align with long-term sustainability, maximizing investment in strategic sustainable sectors (such as renewable energy and regenerative agriculture), and increasing systemic resilience through economic diversification and new progress indicators beyond GDP.

• Latin America's high vulnerability to the COVID-19 pandemic is linked to a productive matrix dependent on primary goods, specifically crude oil and agro-food exports. The region produces 13% of global food and 25% of global agro-food exports, while its crude oil market share is approximately 7%, making it a 'price taker' vulnerable to fluctuations.
• The pandemic caused severe socio-economic declines in Latin America by 2020, including an 8.1% contraction of GDP for the region and the Caribbean, a 13.5% increase in unemployment, and a 37.2% increase in the number of people living in poverty.
• Environmental indicators in the region show extreme fragility, with a deforestation rate three times the global average and the highest risk of biodiversity loss in the world, with the Living Planet Index showing a 94% decline compared to 1970.
• The document identifies a lack of systemic vision in pandemic responses; despite COVID-19 being a zoonotic disease, no countries in the region adopted measures linked to biodiversity protection or the loss of natural habitats.
• A 'just and resilient recovery' must avoid 'carbon lock-in' by reducing economic support for carbon-intensive sectors and redirecting funds toward sustainability. It recommends that Finance Ministries use low oil prices to reform fuel subsidies and increase carbon tax discussions.
• To achieve carbon neutrality and social inclusion, the report recommends investing in strategic sectors including renewable energy, energy efficiency via thermal housing retrofits, electrification of public transport, regenerative agriculture, and circular economy waste management.
• The document proposes increasing systemic resilience by diversifying national economies to reduce dependence on extractive industries and adopting progress indicators that value natural capital and quality of life beyond GDP, citing New Zealand's 'Wellbeing Budget' as an example.
• The report highlights specific regional successes: Chile is a leader in non-conventional renewable energy investment; Colombia has a law on electric mobility (Law 1964 of 2019); and Costa Rica is noted for its Nature-based Solutions (NbS) and National Decarbonization Plan.

APA

Transforma (2020). Latinoamérica Sostenible: Cambiando el rumbo hacia una recuperación justa y resiliente. https://transforma.global/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/BRIEF-LS-REGIONAL.pdf

Chicago

Transforma. Latinoamérica Sostenible: Cambiando el rumbo hacia una recuperación justa y resiliente. 2020. https://transforma.global/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/BRIEF-LS-REGIONAL.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Transforma |title=Latinoamérica Sostenible: Cambiando el rumbo hacia una recuperación justa y resiliente |date=November 2020 |url=https://transforma.global/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/BRIEF-LS-REGIONAL.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{transforma2020latinoamrica, author = {{Transforma}}, title = {{Latinoamérica Sostenible: Cambiando el rumbo hacia una recuperación justa y resiliente}}, institution = {Transforma}, year = {2020}, month = nov, url = {https://transforma.global/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/BRIEF-LS-REGIONAL.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }