World Bank2013-02-112013-02-112008-06-23https://hdl.handle.net/10986/12303Panama is experiencing spectacular economic growth, averaging 7.5 percent during 2004-06; a construction boom; and emerging new opportunities and growing export markets. Despite this impressive growth performance, at the national level poverty remained almost unchanged during 1997-2006 at around 37 percent (masking a decline in rural poverty and an increase in urban and indigenous areas). Key development challenges for Panama include: (a) sustaining its accelerated recent growth performance, and (b) translating growth into poverty reduction. Natural resources and the environment must be key elements of any successful strategy to meet these challenges. The main objective of the Panama Country Environmental Analysis (CEA) is to provide an analytical foundation to enhance the country's capacity to establish and address environmental policy priorities linked to poverty reduction and sustained economic growth. This report covers three main areas. First, the report analyzes the capabilities of Panama's institutions to perform essential tasks to manage the environment and natural resources; namely identifying problems and designing and implementing policies to solve them. The analysis therefore places great emphasis on the clarity of policies; mechanisms for coordination; use of and access to information, participation, and consultation; and, mechanisms to promote compliance with legislation. The premise of the institutional approach is that only strong institutions are able to offer efficient, equitable, and durable solutions to the increasingly complex problems faced by modern societies. Second, the report identifies environmental and natural resource management issues of key sectors, such as mining and tourism, to provide information on strategic synergies and tradeoffs involving the environment, economic growth, and poverty. Finally, the report offers new quantitative estimates in the fields of environmental health and climate change that will help the Government of Panama establish policy priorities.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOACCESS TO INFORMATIONAGGRESSIVEAGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENTAGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIONAIR QUALITYARABLE LANDAUDITSBASIC LEGISLATIONBIODIVERSITYBIODIVERSITY CONSERVATIONBIOLOGICAL DIVERSITYCANCERCAPACITY BUILDINGCARBONCARBON DIOXIDECARBON EMISSIONSCARDIOVASCULAR DISEASECHILD HEALTHCHILD SURVIVALCHRONIC MALNUTRITIONCITIZENCITIZENSCLIMATE CHANGECOALCOMMUNITY PARTICIPATIONCOST-BENEFIT ANALYSESCRIMEDEBTDECISION MAKINGDEFORESTATIONDEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVESDEVELOPMENT PLANSDEVELOPMENT STRATEGIESDISABILITYDISEASESECOLOGICAL BALANCEECONOMIC ACTIVITYECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMIC INSTRUMENTSECOSYSTEMEDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENTEFFECTIVE USEEMISSION STANDARDSEMISSIONSEMPLOYMENT CREATIONENDANGERED SPECIESENFORCEMENT MECHANISMSENVIRONMENTALENVIRONMENTAL ACCOUNTINGENVIRONMENTAL AUTHORITYENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATIONENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATIONENVIRONMENTAL FOOTPRINTENVIRONMENTAL HEALTHENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTSENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONSENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATIONENVIRONMENTAL ISSUESENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENTENVIRONMENTAL POLICIESENVIRONMENTAL POLICYENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTIONENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMSENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTIONENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ACTIVITIESENVIRONMENTAL QUALITYENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONSENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITYENVIRONMENTAL USEEQUILIBRIUMEXPENDITURESEXPLOITATIONFINANCIAL RESOURCESFISHINGFORESTRYFORMAL EDUCATIONGOVERNMENT AGENCIESGOVERNMENT CAPACITYGOVERNMENT RESPONSEGROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCTGROSS NATIONAL PRODUCTHAZARDOUS WASTE MANAGEMENTHEALTH EFFECTSHEALTH IMPACTHEALTH INDICATORSHEALTH INTERVENTIONSHEALTH OUTCOMESHEALTH PROBLEMSHEALTH RISKSHEALTHY ENVIRONMENTHEALTHY LIFEHIGH CHILD MORTALITYHUMAN CAPITALHUMAN HEALTHHUMAN SETTLEMENTSHYGIENEILLNESSILLNESSESIMPORTANT POLICYINDIGENOUS GROUPSINDOOR AIR POLLUTIONINFORMATION SYSTEMINFORMATION SYSTEMSINSTITUTIONAL CAPACITYINSTITUTIONAL REQUIREMENTSINTERNATIONAL COMMUNITYINTERNATIONAL COOPERATIONINTERNATIONAL TRADEINTERVENTIONLAND TENURELAND USELAWSLIMITED RESOURCESLIVE BIRTHSLIVING STANDARDSLOCAL COMMUNITIESLOCAL ECONOMYLOCAL GOVERNMENTSLOCAL POPULATIONLOGGINGMALARIAMANAGEMENT SYSTEMSMANDATESMETALSMINISTRY OF HEALTHMORBIDITYMORTALITYMORTALITY RATENATIONAL COUNCILNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTNATIONAL GOVERNMENTNATIONAL LEVELNATIONAL PLANSNATIONAL PRIORITIESNATIONAL STRATEGYNATIONAL SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENTNATURAL CAPITALNATURAL ECOSYSTEMSNATURAL GASNATURAL RESOURCENATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENTNATURAL RESOURCESNATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENTOILOIL EQUIVALENTOIL REFINERIESOZONEPOLICY DEVELOPMENTPOLICY FRAMEWORKPOLICY INSTRUMENTSPOLLUTION CONTROLPOPULATION GROWTHPROGRESSPUBLIC EXPENDITURESPUBLIC GOODSPUBLIC HEALTHPUBLIC PARTICIPATIONPUBLIC POLICYQUANTITATIVE GOALSRAINFORESTRAPID POPULATION GROWTHRATE OF GROWTHREGULATORY FRAMEWORKSRENEWABLE RESOURCESRESOURCE ALLOCATIONRESOURCE CONSERVATIONRESOURCE MANAGEMENTRESOURCE USERESPECTRURAL AREASRURAL POVERTYSAFE WATERSANITATIONSCARCE RESOURCESSEA LEVELSECTORAL POLICIESSECTORAL PRIORITIESSERVICE QUALITYSET OF RECOMMENDATIONSSOCIAL DEVELOPMENTSOCIAL IMPACTSOCIAL ISSUESSOCIAL PARTICIPATIONSOCIAL SECTORSOCIAL SECTORSSOCIOECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTSOIL EROSIONSTRATEGIC PRIORITYSUPPLY CHAINSSUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENTSUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENTSUSTAINABLE USETECHNICAL CAPACITYTRADEOFFSURBAN AIR POLLUTIONURBAN AREASURBAN DEVELOPMENTURBAN POPULATIONURBAN SPRAWLURBANIZATIONUSE OF RESOURCESWAGESWASTEWATER POLLUTIONWATER RESOURCESWETLANDSWORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATIONYOUNG CHILDRENWorld Bank10.1596/12303