Latin America and the Caribbean is the most urbanized developing region, with the construction sector making a relevant contribution to the regional economy. The One Planet Network Sustainable Buildings and Construction Programme (SBC) has published regional reports on the state of play for circular built environment in Africa, Asia, Europe, Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Latin America and the Caribbean, North America, and Oceania.
The One Planet network has been formed to implement the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP), which supports the global shift to SCP and the achievement of SDG12. The One Planet Network acts as an enabler bringing actors from all regions to pool their expertise, resources, innovation and commitment towards a shift to more sustainable modes of production and consumption. The network comprises of six programmes: Sustainable Buildings and Construction, Sustainable Public Procurement, Sustainable Tourism, Consumer Information for SCP, Sustainable Lifestyles and Education and Sustainable Food Systems Programme.
The Sustainable Buildings and Construction Programme (SBC) aims at improving the knowledge of sustainable construction and to support and mainstream sustainable building solutions. Through the programme, all major sustainable construction activities can be brought together under the same umbrella. The work involves sharing good practices, launching implementation projects, creating cooperation networks and committing actors around the world to sustainable construction. The goal is to promote resource efficiency, mitigation and adaptation efforts, and the shift to SCP patterns in the buildings and construction sector. The SBC work in 2021- 2022 focuses on circularity and responsibly sourced materials.
These highlights from Latin America and the Caribbean provide a deep dive on the circular built environment in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Peru presenting policies, key stakeholders and good practice case studies covering different life cycle stages and impact categories. Most important sustainable development goals and indicators for circularity from the UN2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development were identified through a survey. The results are presented at Regional scale.
The report was prepared and coordinated by the UNESCO Chair on Sustainability at UPC, RECNET and the Urban Resilience Research Group at University of Southern Denmark.
Download the report: here