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LAC Environmental Trivia, Revisited
By Keith R | June 19, 2008
Topics: Environmental Protection | No Comments »
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The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) recently published the latest edition (covering up to 2007) of its annual statistical yearbook for the region. As in recent years, one section covers natural resources and the environment.
If you are seeking a basic set of comparative environmental data for the region, this is not a bad place to start.
It has its limitations, though. The data on forest cover, for example, duplicates that of the FAO’s 2006 Global Forest Resources Assessment. The data on greenhouse gas emissions is mostly from the 1990s and just repeats data from the LAC climate change communications. The data on pesticide use ends at 2001, and thus is the same as ECLAC has published in prior year (why keep publishing the same data, instead of that actually updated since the last edition? Doesn’t this duplication consume more resources?). Fertilizer use data, and agricultural and arable land area figures were finally updated to 2005 in this year’s edition, but I have to wonder why all this data is still two years behind. The data for consumption of ozone-depleting substances only includes 13 nations, and is missing 2006 data for Belize, Brazil, El Salvador, Paraguay and Peru. Data on protected areas is only provided for 13 nations (but up from the eight covered in last year’s edition) and still omits Argentina. Figures on the size of motor vehicle fleets thankfully has been expanded to 14 nations (vs. 10 in the prior year’s edition), with the most recent data missing for five of these (Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela), and the curious omission of Argentina.
That said, there are some interesting charts providing some unexpected insights. These include:
Marine Protected Areas (click to enlarge). Who has the largest marine areas under protection? If you glanced quickly at your wall map of the region and responded Brazil, you’re wrong. Top honors go to Ecuador (133,713 km2), followed by Colombia (75,815 km2). Which Caribbean island nations have the greatest marine area designated for protection? The Dominican Republic (28,949.5 km2), followed by Cuba (2,092 km2) and the Bahamas (1,592.9 km2). Which LAC nation increased their marine protected areas the most in 2006 over 2005? In terms of sheer area, Brazil at 24,049.1 addition square kilometers. In percentage terms, Panama at 1,476%.
- Hydropower as a Percentage of Total Electricity Consumption. Who is most heavily reliant on hydropower for their electric needs? Paraguay at 100%, followed by Uruguay at 99.4% and Peru at 80.9%.
Per Capita Hydrocarbon Consumption (click to enlarge). Who consumes the most kilograms of oil equivalent per capita? Would you have guessed Trinidad and Tobago as #1 (not me!) at 7,815.4? The rest of the top five consumers (in order) are Venezuela (only 1/7 of Trinidad’s!), Jamaica, Suriname and Argentina.
- Energy Intensity of GDP. I think the five most intense will surprise you: Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Haiti, Suriname and Nicaragua (last year #5 was Paraguay).
Consumption of ozone-depleting substances. Which LAC nation is consuming the most ODS controlled by the Montreal Protocol? This ECLAC table (click to enlarge) suggests that it is by far Mexico, consuming 16,240 tons of hydroclorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and 1,400 tons of methyl bromide. A distant second is the Dominican Republic at 1,310 tons of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), 990 tons of HCFCs and 350 tons of methyl bromide.
ISO 14001 Certifications. Which LAC nations had the most certifications in 2006 for the International Standards Organization’s (ISO) 14001 environmental management standard? The top five were Brazil (2447), Argentina (862, nearly doubled from 454 in 2005), Mexico (409, down from the 2004 high of 492), Chile (375, up nearly a 100 from 2005) and Colombia (296). How about ISO 14001 Certification intensity, though? That’s my term for it, anyway. This table (click table to enlarge) measures how many certifications under the there are in LAC nations per billion dollars of GDP. Who’s tops? Chile, followed closely by Colombia, with Guyana, Brazil and Bolivia rounding out the top five.
Loading ...Tags: áreas protegidas, Bahamas, Bolivia, Brasil, Brazil, CEPAL, CFCs, Chile, chlorofluorocarbons, clorofluorcarbonos, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, ECLAC, eco-certification, Ecuador, environment, environmental management, FAO, fertilizantes, fertilizers, GDP, gestión ambiental, Guyana, Haiti, HCFCs, hidroclorofluorcarbono, hydrocarbons, hydroclorofluorocarbons, hydropower, ISO, ISO 14001, marine protection areas, medio ambiente, meio ambiente, methyl bromide, Mexico, Montreal Protocol, Nicaragua, ozone depleting substances, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, pesticides, PIB, plaguicidas, protected areas, Protocolo de Montreal, República Dominicana, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, vehicle fleet
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