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

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this regard, the International Conference on Population and Development affirmed that the rights and
empowerment approach to reproductive health was fundamental for eradicating poverty, achieving a
better quality of life, and attaining <strong>sustainable</strong> <strong>development</strong>.
Reflecting the wide diversity of countries, peoples and cultures that make up the region, different
visions of <strong>development</strong> exist and must be recognized. Of particular note are the visions and values of
indigenous peoples that have been enshrined in legislation in recent <strong>years</strong> in some countries. In Ecuador,
for example, the new Constitution of <strong>20</strong>08 recognizes “the right of the population to live in a healthy and
ecologically balanced environment that guarantees sustainability and the good way of living “sumak
kawsay”. Article 71 of this instrument adds that “nature or Pacha Mama, where life is reproduced and
occurs, has the right to integral respect for its existence and for the maintenance and regeneration of its
life cycles, structure, functions and evolutionary processes”. Similarly, in the preparatory process for
Rio+<strong>20</strong>, the Plurinational State of Bolivia has stated that nature as well as human beings must be at the
centre of concerns for <strong>sustainable</strong> <strong>development</strong> and that the existence, integrity, interrelationship,
interaction and regeneration of all the components of the overall Earth system must be restored and
guaranteed in order to achieve a level of <strong>sustainable</strong> <strong>development</strong> capable of withstanding the multiple
crises afflicting humanity and the planet. 4
Bearing in mind the diverse visions of <strong>development</strong> in the region, the guidelines proposed in
chapter VI do not seek to provide a single solution but rather to present to countries a set of
recommendations based on characteristics observed across the region for their consideration as they move
towards a more <strong>sustainable</strong> pattern of <strong>development</strong>. How these guidelines are applied should be defined in
the light of the agreements adopted at the Rio+<strong>20</strong> Conference, among other factors.
B. SUMMARY OF THE MAIN CONCLUSIONS
Efforts to promote <strong>sustainable</strong> <strong>development</strong> in Latin America and the Caribbean over the past two
decades have yielded advances as well as setbacks. Table 2 shows (in darker shading) some positive
changes such as the decrease in the percentage of people living in poverty, the reduction of the Gini
coefficient used to measure inequality in income distribution, the rise in the Human Development Index
(HDI) (see chapter I), the increase in coverage of protected areas and success in eliminating the
consumption of substances that deplete the ozone layer (see chapter II). Nonetheless, many of the
improvements are tentative or merely relative. For example, the total number of people living in
conditions of poverty or indigence in <strong>20</strong>10 (177 million people) was higher than in 1980 (see figure I.1).
The region’s HDI in <strong>20</strong>10 was below that recorded by countries in the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 1990 (see chapter I). Furthermore, economic losses caused by
disasters between <strong>20</strong>00 and <strong>20</strong>10 were almost three times as high as in the 1990s.
4
See the proposal of the Plurinational State of Bolivia for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable
Development (Rio+<strong>20</strong>) (ECLAC <strong>20</strong>11).