18 April 2012: The lead article in the English edition of the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean’s (ECLAC) tri-annual publication CEPAL Review discusses an ECLAC study finding it necessary to transform industrial structures to include more knowledge-based and high productivity sectors in order to promote sustainable development in Latin America.

The article, “The dynamics of industrial energy consumption in Latin America and their implications for sustainable development,” is co-authored by Hugo Altomonte, Director of ECLAC’s Natural Resources and Infrastructure Division, and Nelson Correa, Diego Rivas and Giovanni Stumpo of ECLAC’s Division of Production, Productivity and Management.

The authors report that their analysis of 1997-2006 data, the last period for which there is complete and comparable information from industrial surveys in Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico, shows that the regional focus on natural resource intensive sectors has contributed to a high energy consumption pattern with low technology content and slow productivity dynamics. The study found an increasing productivity gap between the four countries and the US, which was used as the international benchmark for productivity gains. It was shown that Brazil fell particularly far behind, with the others converging at higher levels of energy sustainability during the period. Colombia was given special note for its 5.1% annual drop in energy intensity.

The authors argue that ensuring sustainable development in Latin America will require structural change focusing on sectors that improve both the region’s productivity and sustainability of energy consumption. [ECLAC Press Release] [Publication: The Dynamics of Industrial Energy Consumption in Latin America and their Implications for Sustainable Development]