China and Sustainable Development in Latin America

The Social and Environmental Dimension

Edited by Rebecca Ray, Kevin Gallagher, Andres López, Cynthia Sanborn

Publication date:

02 January 2017

Publisher

Anthem Press

Dimensions:

229x153mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9781783086139

During Latin America’s China-led commodity boom, governments turned a blind eye to the inherent flaws in the region’s economic policy. Now that the commodity boom is coming to an end, those flaws cannot be ignored. High on the list of shortcomings is the fact that Latin American governments—and Chinese investors—largely fell short of mitigating the social and environmental impacts of commodity-led growth.

The recent commodity boom exacerbated pressure on the region’s waterways and forests, accentuating threats to human health, biodiversity, global climate change and local livelihoods. China and Sustainable Development in Latin America documents the social and environmental impact of the China-led commodity boom in the region. It also highlights important areas of innovation, like Chile’s solar energy sector, in which governments, communities and investors worked together to harness the commodity boom for the benefit of the people and the planet.

“This book is one of the most important and recent efforts to analyze the social and environmental impacts of the deepening relationship between China and the Latin American countries over the past few decades. The increasing volume of goods traded between the Asian giant and the region, the traces left by their extractive companies and the lessons learned from their investment projects along the continent, provide the current picture – and possible future path – of this growing bond.” –César Leonidas Gamboa Balbin, Professor, National University of San Marcos, Peru