New Report from Global Economic Governance Initiative on the Social and Environmental Impact of China in Latin America
Latin America’s recent commodity boom accentuated environmental degradation and social conflict across the Americas. The Latin American commodity boom was largely driven by new trade and investment with China, and concentrated in the petroleum, mineral extraction, and agricultural sectors — sectors endemic to environmental degradation and often the source of social conflict over rights and working conditions. Though with some notable exceptions, Latin American governments fell short of mitigating the social and environmental costs of trade and investment of the China-led commodity boom. While China should not be blamed for the bulk of Latin America’s environmental and social problems, as China ‘goes global’ it is important to mitigate the social and environmental impacts of its global activities in order to maintain good relations with host countries and to reduce the potential risks associated with overseas investment.
Although some Chinese firms have demonstrated an ability to adhere to best practices in the social and environmental arena, by and large and Chinese firms operating in Latin America thus far lack the experience or policies in place to lessen the impacts of their investments in the region. As the Latin American economies slow down there is increasing pressure on governments to ‘streamline’ approvals for the relatively few opportunities for Chinese trade and investment, and to dampen the voice of civil society organizations working to hold governments and foreign firms accountable for their actions. It is in the interests of the Latin American and Chinese governments, as well as Chinese firms, to put in place the proper social and environmental policies in order to maximize the benefits and mitigate the risks of China’s economic activity in Latin America.
These are the findings of the Working Group on Development and Environment in the Americas, a multi-university effort coordinated by the Center for Transformation Research (CENIT) in Argentina, the Research Center of the University of the Pacific (CIUP) in Peru, Boston University’s Global Economic Governance Initiative (GEGI), and Tufts University’s Global Development and Environment Institute(GDAE). This project is comprised of eight country studies, including Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, and Peru. This work has been supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.