Greening Latin America

The Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region is home to 40% of the world’s biodiversity and one-third of global fresh water sources. Having been struck over the past decades with increasingly extreme weather events, including flooding, hurricanes and prolonged draught, the region has proven to be also one of the world’s most vulnerable regions to the effects of climate change. 

The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the critical need to align environmental policy with the economic recovery and enhanced social protection measures. In this context, environmental and climate issues have gained greater prominence on the LAC region's political agenda. The LAC Regional Programme (LACRP) supports regional efforts in the implementation of environmental sustainability initiatives and the advancement on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The LACRP introduced the Environmental Sustainability Priortity in December 2021, during the 13th Steering Group Meeting. This priority was added to the three original thematic pillars that coincide with the most pressing challenges of the region: increasing productivity, enhancing social inclusion and strengthening institutions.

During the 2022-2025 cycle, the LACRP ensures that projects aiming to support these three priorities also consider environmental sustainability. The programme also facilitates regional policy dialogues between OECD and LAC countries on issues related to environmental sustainability priorities, such as promoting effective action on climate neutrality and resilience. It will also produce new indicators and regional analyses to contribute to an evidence-based policy debate in the region.

Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is a region of growing importance to the world economy. The region combines a GDP of almost USD 6 trillion and a market of 652 million people. Economic integration and a well-functioning institutional system are key objectives for both OECD and LAC countries and they are the basis for the mutually beneficial OECD-LAC relationship that addresses development challenges and works towards sustainable policy reforms.

At the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting in 2016, OECD members strengthened co-operation with the region through the creation of an OECD LAC Regional Programme (LACRP). The Programme aims to support the LAC region in advancing its ambitious reform agenda, which is key to unleashing sustainable economic growth and social development across the region. The LACRP provides policy makers with a space for evidence-based policy dialogue to bring countries in the region closer to OECD standards and best practices.

The LACRP focuses on three key areas of the region's reform agenda: productivity, social inclusion and governance. Following its first 2016-2018 mandate, led by Chile and Peru, the Programme’s co-chairmanship for 2019-2022 was assumed by Mexico, as an OECD member country, and Brazil, as a LAC partner country.

Take a look at the recordings from the 3rd Regional Policy Dialogue on Environmental Sustainability (March 2023), under the theme Addressing Climate Change Adaptation in LAC.