“Material Flows and Resource Productivity in Latin America” . Currently, the region is extracting a greater volume of natural resources per unit of GDP than it did in 1970. This means that much of the value of the commodity is exported to other regions whereas the bulk of the extractive pressures are borne by Latin America itself.

“Material Flows and Resource Productivity in Latin America”

Policy brief: Metallic ores and industrial minerals

Compared with the situation in 1970, population growth has slowed in Latin America and average incomes have risen. Both trends should in theory be good news for the environment; a simple description of a theory called the “Environmental Kuznet´s Curve” is that as incomes rise above a certain point, many impacts on the environment will decrease. The report “Material Flows and Resource Productivity in Latin America”, launched by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in partnership with the Commonwealth Scientific, Industrial and Research Organization (CSIRO), shows an opposite trend operating in Latin America. Currently, the region is extracting a greater volume of natural resources per unit of GDP than it did in 1970. A notable example of this trend is the extraction of metals such as copper, gold, lead, zinc and silver, which need to be refined by several orders of magnitude before export. This means that much of the value of the commodity is exported to other regions whereas the bulk of the extractive pressures are borne by Latin America itself. The report provides detailed analysis of material flows and resource productivity in ten countries of the region: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela. Although the rapid increases in population in the region that drove environmental pressures in the 1970s and 1980s have eased greatly, in recent years the main driver has been growth in per capita incomes and per capita consumption, as well as the growth in external demand. Per capita DMC ended the period over 30% higher than the rest of the world, at 13.6 tonnes per capita. The policy brief on Metal Ores and Industrial Minerals is available at http://www.pnuma.org/deat1/pdf/Policy%20briefs%20-%20Material%20Flows/Ingles/Brief_minerals%28in_web%29.pdf The findings of the report –available at http://www.pnuma.org/deat1/pdf/RecentTrendsMaterialFlows%28Final%29%2006jun2013.pdf- are based on a material flows database developed by CSIRO and covering the great majority of countries in Latin America, as well as additional countries in the Caribbean, using standard material flow accounting methodologies. The database can be accessed at: www.csiro.au/LatinAmericaCaribbeanResourceFlows. “Material Flows and Resource Productivity in Latin America” aims to encourage further research—and collection of official data by countries in the region—that will guide a continuing increase in living standards without an ever greater increase in extractive pressures and loss of natural capital.