Transcript Rene Castro
Is Sustainable Development Path an Option? July 20, 2009 By Dr. Rene Castro [email protected] Ecoturists are diverse, well educated and expend more Greece and the Caribbean are positioned in sun and sand tourism, it is only growing at 4% Cultural tourism is growing at 15% per year Adventure tourism at around 20% Ref. Lawrence Pratt, 2005 Longer visits not always means more money… Gastos de Turistas por Día $250 $230 $224 $200 $156 US$ . Tourist visiting Costa Rica: after 10 days diminishing returns for the country $150 $114 $100 $77 $50 $0 0 - 5 6 - 10 11 - 14 15 - 21 21 o más Días Gráfico del autor basado en datos anexos y cálculos propios Not all tourist niches are equally profitable…cruiships means high leakage Volumen Anual de Turistas Tourists Cruise tourists 1,400,000 1,200,000 1,000,000 800,000 600,000 400,000 200,000 0 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 Expenditures per tourist visit Gastos por Turistas por Visita Expenditures per Cruise tourists 1,200 1,000 US $ . 800 600 400 200 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 Gráficos del autor basado en datos anteriores 2002 2003 SMEs are common in ecoutourism and leakage is less than 20% A- a Typica SME is a rain forest Tram in Playa Jacó (Ref. La República, 5 de septiembre de 2002.) Equity debt Total $342,016 $ 1,368,064 $ 1,710,080 B- Most hotels are around 20 rooms. C- Around 40 cents X $1 expend remains in local communties study in progress at INCAE, 2009). Strong sustaibnability GREEN ENERGY Latin American Consumers and El Niño are Exacerbating Environmental Problems: Fossil Fuel Consumption Increasing 90% EL NIÑO EL NIÑO 80% 70% Bolivia 60% Dominican Republic Ecuador 50% Haiti 40% Peru 30% Central America Mexico 20% Colombia 10% Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987 1986 1985 1984 1983 1982 1981 0% 1980 Net Thermal Electricity Generation % 100% Cash inflow coming from Environmental Services C O2 Certificates and t CO2 CERs Global Green Markets for CO2 fixed by forest… …cleaner energy and transportation induce by and CO2 markets 4-2-97 Tomado de Cyclone Wind Energy CERs payments help Costa Rica to aimfor 100% renewable power by 2021 Currently fossil fuels only for peak hours in Costa Rica Tomado de: “Plan de expansión de la generación eléctrica, período 2004 – 2020”; ICE. Wind power and biomass closing the gap Tomado de Cyclone Wind Energy System, en desarrollo Strong Sustainability BIODIVERSITY Biodiversity: New Products and Services Medicinas Plantas transgénicas Bio-pesticidas Productos Otros Productos (cosméticos) Agronomía Biología Química Computación Ingeniería Genética Leyes Microbiología Farmacología Insectos Plantas Microorganismos Ref. INBIO, 2001 Áreas del conocimiento Moluscos y organismos marinos Muestras ambientales y ADN Tipos de muestras More than 30 Contracts Between INBIO and key industries between 1991-2001, such as: MERCK 91-99 BTG 92-02 / ECOS –LA PACÍFICA BRISTOL MYERS SQUIBB 94-98 RBI 95-98 DIVERSA 98-01 /2001-06 GIVAUDAN ROURE 95-98 INDENA 96-98, 00-02 PHYTERA 98-00 AKKADIX 00-01 Eli Lilly 2000 Strong Sustainability CLIMATE CHANGE ECONOMIC GROWTH AND EMISSIONS: WHAT IS THE LINK? CO2 Emissions per capita vs. GDP per capita Selected Latin America and OECD countries CO2 Emissions per capita (MT) 20 USA 18 CAN Carbon-intensive Development 16 14 GER 12 NED VEN 10 UK JAP COL 8 NOR SPA 6 Less Carbon-instensive Development PER MEX 4 2 CR 0 0 2,500 5,000 7,500 10,000 12,500 15,000 17,500 GDP per capita (US dollars) Ref. Castro and tattembach, 2000 20,000 22,500 25,000 27,500 Climate Change is here Extreme wheatear events are increasing in frequency and magnitude… Developing countries in permanent reconstruction Dr. René Castro Large Dams facing changes in rain patterns Arenal Lake, Costa Rica During the 94 summer Arenal Reservoir was about to closed down due to a severe El Niño. It provides around 35% of Costa Rican electricity and surplus for export. El Cajon, Honduras Honduras was no prepared to confront water scarcity. Cajon Hydro plant closed down in 1994. The country faced black outs and had to redesigned Cajon. Dr. René Castro Sweden, June, 2004 Large infrastructure facing water Budget reductions In 1983 the Panama Canal water was scarce and bellow the critical level of 84.5 feet... they dug one more meter Dr. René Castro In 1997 water was scarce again and the lower level of 81.5 did not work... In 2008 Canal Expansion project will reduce water waste by 60% New Environmental Design Reduction of Human Vulnerability Conclusions Sustainable Development is possible but Difficult Developing Countries need SD strategy to survive Climate Change and Economic Stress Small Costa Rica could be a pioneer in some areas There is a need for global leadership