Is socially inclusive and ecologically sustainable progress in Latin America attainable?

Discussion on new approaches to development is more important than ever as the world grapples with the effects of multiple and interconnected crisis. In that context, the Paris Agreement, which deals with mitigating climate change, and the Sustainable Development Goals that cover a broad range of sustainable development issues to be addressed by 2030, suggest a common direction for a future path to development. An accompanying part of this future path is an urgent change in the way production and consumption is organized.

In 2015, members of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung’s Socio-Ecological Transformation Working Group in Latin America started to discuss alternative approaches to the current development model of the region. Members of the group, which was set up as part of a project by FES on Socio-Ecological Transformation in Latin America, has had the objective to formulate proposals for the transformation of the regional economies in favour of greater social inclusion and ecological sustainability.

A second project by FES in Latin America was devoted to the debate on a socio-ecological transformation of the agricultural sector. Coordinated by the FES office in Argentina, which also publishes the political journal Nueva Sociedad (New Society), the project was set up to analyse the implications of the current agricultural model and to propose possible reforms. Those reforms have the aim to protect the natural environment and biodiversity, and push for rural development as well as boost the fight against poverty.

The two projects organized a joint regional workshop in Buenos Aires on 9-10 October to discuss and explore new avenues of productive development in Latin America. In addition to agriculture, the focus during the workshop was on industry, services, natural resources, energy, innovation and technological development.

Over the two days at the joint regional workshop, participants debated about new paradigms and strategies for sustainable public policies as well as the role of the state and its institutions in transforming regional economies and societies. It was noted that without strong and transparent institutions such transformations are clearly unattainable.

The workshop was part of a series of debates on Latin American development. All of these were dedicated to the construction of a progressive political agenda for a sustainable future and related networks, in order to fill in the blanks on policy alternatives which has characterized progressive policies all over the globe, as Christian Denzin from FES Mexico, coordinator of the regional project Socio-Ecological Transformation in Latin America and the namesake working group, pointed out:

"The current export-based development pathways barely improve social inclusion. Moreover, they have had powerfully adverse impacts on the local environment. In order to reform this model, the region needs to create local and regional value chains."

Local and regional value chains will help to overcome the dependency of the region on external markets and diminish the concentration of value creation in the hands of international or state-controlled companies.

"It is necessary to strengthen the ties between the different sectors," explained Claudia Detsch, director of the FES office in Argentine. "For example, Latin America rarely offers the services associated with the exploration of raw materials."

Detsch added that the region has to invest heavily in science and research to find its own solutions for its particular challenges instead of just relying on innovations offered by other regions. "The future will be shaped by region-specific approaches," she added. "This will require an intense effort by Latin American countries, but it also provides a great opportunity to carve an independent path towards socially inclusive and ecologically sustainable progress."

Three participants at the October workshop in Buenos Aires contributed their expert opinion on what a reformed, socially and environmentally just development model must take into account.