sustainable development 20 years on from the ... - José Eli da Veiga

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Table II.2
LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN (14 COUNTRIES): ENVIRONMENTAL FRAMEWORK
LAWS, LEGISLATION ON ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT, LEGAL DEFINITION
OF ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE AND INCORPORATION OF THE PRINCIPLE
OF PARTICIPATION IN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW-MAKING
Country
Environmental framework laws
Has legislation on
environmental
impact assessment
Has a legal
definition of
environmental
damage
Incorporates the
principle of
participation in
environmental
law-making
Argentina Law 25675 (<strong>20</strong>02) X X X
Brazil Law 6938 (1981) X X X
Chile Law 19300 (1994) X X X
Colombia Law 99 (1993) X X X
Framework law on the
Costa Rica
environment (1995)
X X X
Cuba Law 81 (1997) X X X
Law on environmental
Ecuador
management (1999)
X X X
Law on the environment (1988)
El Salvador
and related regulations
X X X
Guatemala Law 68-86 (1986) X – X
Decree on environmental
management for <strong>sustainable</strong>
X – –
Haiti
<strong>development</strong> (<strong>20</strong>01)
Nicaragua Law 217 (1996) X X X
Panama Law 41 (1998) X – X
Peru Law 28611 (<strong>20</strong>05) X X X
Dominican Republic Law 64-00 (<strong>20</strong>00) X X X
Uruguay Law 17283 (<strong>20</strong>00) X X X
Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) on the basis of United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP), “Derecho y políticas ambientales. Legislación por países”, <strong>20</strong>09 [online] www.pnuma.org/deramb/
legislacionporpaises.php?menusup=8&menuinf=3.
Since 1992 there has also been a steep increase in the number of national institutions devoted to the
environment or to <strong>sustainable</strong> <strong>development</strong>. All countries in the region now have a ministry, secretariat or
equivalent devoted to the environment and, in some cases, they are linked to related issues, such as
agriculture, housing, energy or natural resources (see table II.3). However, many of these organizations are
given lower priority than other areas of public policy, including in the allocation of financial and human
resources. Indeed, public spending on the environment as a percentage of GDP did not exceed 1%
throughout the first decade of this century (United Nations, <strong>20</strong>10). 1 This applies not only to the national
level, but also the State and provincial levels. Local authorities have a crucial role to play in environmental
management, as the sphere of action for many environmental problems is local. Local authorities are
recognized explicitly in Agenda 21 (see chapter III).
1
As a reference, in member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) public
spending on the environment represents between 1% and 2% of GDP (United Nations, <strong>20</strong>10).