Publication: Republic of Colombia: Mitigating Environmental Degradation to Foster Growth and Reduce Inequality
Date
2006-02-25
ISSN
Published
2006-02-25
Author(s)
World Bank
Abstract
Over the last five decades, Colombia has
made substantial progress in protecting its environment.
This includes restructuring its legal and regulatory
landscape, undertaking policy initiatives, and strengthening
its capacity for protecting and managing its natural
resources and environmental quality, and establishing a
system of national parks and forestry reserves that covers
more than a quarter of the country. Colombia's
environmental management framework has focused on three main
environmental priorities: (a) river basin management and
conservation of water resources, (b) reforestation, and (c)
conservation o f biodiversity. The analysis of the cost of
environmental degradation conducted as part of the Country
Environmental Analysis (CEA), shows that the most costly
problems associated with environmental degradation are urban
and indoor air pollution; inadequate water supply,
sanitation and hygiene; natural disasters (such as flooding
and landslides); and land degradation. The burden of these
costs falls most heavily on vulnerable segments of the
population, especially poor children under age five. The
effects of environmental degradation associated with these
principal causes are estimated to cost more than 3.7 percent
of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), mainly due to increased
mortality and morbidity and decreased productivity. To
identify alternatives aimed at abating the cost of
environmental degradation, this CEA examines institutional
and policy issues in the functioning of the country's
environmental management system and suggests some
cost-effective interventions.
Citation
“World Bank. 2006. Republic of Colombia: Mitigating Environmental Degradation to Foster Growth and Reduce Inequality. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/33924 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”