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

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Table II.6
AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY LOSSES ACCORDING TO CLIMATE CHANGE SCENARIO A2
(Percentages of agricultural gross domestic product (GDP))
Country
Agricultural GDP
as a percentage of
total GDP, <strong>20</strong>08
Percentage reduction
in agricultural GDP
by <strong>20</strong><strong>20</strong>
Percentage reduction
in agricultural GDP
by <strong>20</strong>50
Percentage reduction
in agricultural GDP
by 2100
Bolivia
(Plurinational State of) 12.1 17.8 18.5 19.9
Chile 5.4 3.5 7.2 7.3
Ecuador 10.5 8.0 16.3 18.0
Paraguay 22.1 8.0 16.1 28.0
Peru 6.7 5.5 7.1 9.6
Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)/Global Mechanism of the United Nations
Convention to Combat Desertification.
6. Water resource management
The issue of water was addressed in chapter 18 of Agenda 21. Subsequently, the Plan of Implementation
for the World Summit on Sustainable Development emphasized the importance of: access to safe drinking
water and basic sanitation; developing plans for the integrated management and efficient use of water
resources; and facilitating access to information on the <strong>sustainable</strong> use of water resources. In <strong>20</strong>03 the
United Nations established the International Decade for Action, “Water for Life” <strong>20</strong>05–<strong>20</strong>15, the main
objective of which is to promote activities aimed at meeting, by <strong>20</strong>15, the commitments on water,
including the Millennium Development Goals of halving, by <strong>20</strong>15, the proportion of people without
<strong>sustainable</strong> access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation as well as to stop the un<strong>sustainable</strong>
exploitation of water resources. 13
Latin America and the Caribbean is one of the regions with the greatest abundance of water on
the planet. It harbours one third of the world’s renewable water resources and, although it has only 15%
of the world’s land mass and 8.4% of its population, it receives 29% of global precipitation (United
Nations, <strong>20</strong>10). However, water distribution is highly unequal, and water resources are strained by
multiple factors, such as excessive abstraction for agriculture and mining, aquifer depletion, increasing
water pollution, deforestation and the destruction of catchment basins and replenishment areas (United
Nations, <strong>20</strong>10). The melting of glaciers in Andean regions that supply water for agriculture and cities is
becoming an increasingly important factor in these areas (UNEP, <strong>20</strong>10a).
Climate change will compound existing problems. Less rainfall in some areas and more frequent
droughts and floods in others will affect water availability and quality. According to IPCC predictions,
the number of people experiencing water shortages in the region will range between 12 million and
81 million in <strong>20</strong>25, and between 79 million and 178 million in <strong>20</strong>55 (Arnell, <strong>20</strong>04).
As is the case everywhere in the world, in Latin America and the Caribbean water is used mainly
for agriculture, followed by domestic and industrial consumption. Figure II.13 shows water withdrawal
rates by these sectors in selected countries of the region (United Nations, <strong>20</strong>10).
13
See [online] www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/.