Climate Action 2009-2010

POLICY
Photo 1. Rural Energisation in San Antonio de
Lipez, Bolivia.
Sustainable
development
in Latin
America and
the Caribbean
Carlos a. Flórez P.
ExEcutivE SEcrEtary,
Latin amErican EnErgy OrganizatiOn (OLaDE)
SUSTAINABLE ENERGY 42
In 2008, renewable energy sources in Latin America
and the Caribbean (LAC) represented 26 per cent of
the region’s energy demand supply matrix, causing
this region to contribute only five per cent of the total
global CO 2
emissions, as shown in Figure 1.
The Latin American and Caribbean region has significant
reserves of oil, natural gas and coal, in addition to
renewable resources, especially hydropower and biofuels.
However, these resources are not uniformly
distributed, and fossil fuel production is primarily for
export. Dependency on non-renewable commercial
fuels has grown over recent years, especially for
transportation and to some extent for power generation.
In response, the countries of the region are developing
initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as part
of their climate change policies, which reward energy
efficiency and renewable energy sources.
Given this situation, over the past three years the
meetings of Energy Ministers within the region have
instructed OLADE, an inter-governmental technical
assistance entity comprising 26 Member Countries of
Latin America and the Caribbean and one Participant
Country (Algeria), to support the work of its member
countries towards sustainable development of its
energy resources, with an emphasis on energy
efficiency and renewable sources. In 2007 the Energy
Ministers decided to “consolidate and institutionalise
Figure 1. Primary energy matrix for Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC), 2008.
Source: SIEE-OLADE, 2008
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