Regenerative and Sustainable Futures for Latin America and the Caribbean

The coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) generated a crisis; however, it also gave us an opportunity to imagine the future and build a better world. Moreover, as we are convinced of the importance of understanding the lessons of history when facing both current and future challenges, this chapter seeks to present a concise overview of global crises since the end of the nineteenth century and to show crises for which we ignored the warning signs and wakeup calls, the consequences of said crises and how we managed to recover and thrive in several cases. Ultimately, we seek to justify the capacity of humanity to build a sustainable future – ideally, a regenerative future.

This study identifies measures to recover economic growth and build sustainable societies and markets in post-COVID-19 scenarios – with a perspective of resilience and adaptability to climate change and massive biodiversity loss. Additionally, this study uncovers the interventions implemented to address economic, environmental and social consequences of past crises based on a systematic literature review. Specifically, this chapter provides answers to the following six questions:

1. What has been done in the past to rebuild social, economic and environmental balance after global crises?

2. Where (geographical region) did the analysis on measures taken concentrate?

3. When have scholars analysed past measures to rebuild business and society after a global crisis?

4. How did the past measures to rebuild business and society after the global crisis take place?

5. Who promotes the measures to rebuild business and society after a global crisis takes place?

6. Why is it important to study the previous literature on past measures to rebuild business and society after a global crisis takes place?

What has been done in the past to rebuild social, economic and environmental balance after global crises?

Where (geographical region) did the analysis on measures taken concentrate?

When have scholars analysed past measures to rebuild business and society after a global crisis?

How did the past measures to rebuild business and society after the global crisis take place?

Who promotes the measures to rebuild business and society after a global crisis takes place?

Why is it important to study the previous literature on past measures to rebuild business and society after a global crisis takes place?

Finally, this chapter identifies future research opportunities to rebuild business and society after the past global crises.

Development pathways for Latin American and the Caribbean countries have been the subject of debates, analyses and controversies. For several decades, countries in this region have struggled with structural barriers to development associated with social inequalities, political turmoil, colonialism, corruption and a dependence on exploiting natural resources, among others. Recently, the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened some of those obstacles, which when added to the global climate crisis and its environmental impact, leaves the region in a highly stressed situation, with many of its countries on the edge of a deep economic depression. This chapter discusses some of the socioeconomic challenges that Latin America and the Caribbean currently face; the roles of COVID-19 and climate crises on these challenges and some opportunities for recovery.

This chapter provides a brief overview of the need to study sustainable futures. It provides an outline of the importance of inventing futures in the third decade of the twenty-first century. It offers conceptual tools for building sustainable futures scenarios and discusses the importance of long-term thinking in business, government and society. This chapter is divided into four sections. Section One presents the opportunities to invent futures and the role of long-term scenarios. Section Two describes the contest for reimagination and the reinvention of futures. Section Three provides the historic background of the evolution of scenario methodology. Section Four offers a concise introduction to futures studies and futurology. Finally, a short preamble on the empirical research on Sustainable Futures for Latin America and the Caribbean considers climate change.

In this chapter, the reality of Bolivia's current situation is presented, including details regarding the country's political, economic and environmental context. Then, alternate possible future scenarios are presented, developed by four different types of stakeholders in Bolivian society during four workshops that produced various suggestions on how to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic using a sustainable approach.

Several findings are incorporated into these scenarios, including potential risks, public policy recommendations and structural changes required to attain the best possible post-pandemic scenario for Bolivia, including the achievement of several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from the 2030 Agenda, especially SDGs 8, 13 and 17.

This chapter provides an overview of how, from a multi-stakeholder approach, Brazil can recover, fight against climate change and build an inclusive and sustainable future for itself. The interdependencies of the climate change action and current COVID-19 pandemic are discussed through extensive secondary data research to provide an updated context on Brazilian initiatives or the lack thereof. Through a multi-stakeholder methodological approach, the response and recovery actions of Brazil's government are assessed and future scenarios are developed for the country.

In this chapter, we provide an overall characterisation of Chile's current social, healthcare, economic and environmental challenges. The chapter presents public policy proposals to promote economic recovery and resilience to climate change and massive biodiversity loss. Specifically, using the future scenario approach, we developed four workshops, with 43 participants representing different sectors of society to propose public policies for a more inclusive and sustainable Chile. The results presented in this chapter identify the main proposals, lines of action in terms of the most mentioned objectives and main actors in charge of implementing such policies.

This chapter reviews Colombia's unique environmental and social features and Colombia's realities in the third decade of the twenty-first century. It is crucial to understand the country's recent past and to take its structural and historic struggles into account when building sustainable futures.

This chapter also reports the findings of a primary data research study using futures scenario methodologies. The study participants represent different stakeholders' visions of four alternative futures regarding the climate crisis and massive biodiversity loss and social and economic crises.

This chapter's empirical study identifies Colombia's constraints to building a future that is just, inclusive and centred on nature. In addition, we describe in detail the structural changes needed for Colombia to achieve the best possible future scenario (socioeconomic prosperity and resilience to climate change). Finally, this chapter offers conclusions and recommendations.

As a Small Island Developing State, Jamaica merits special consideration in discussions on climate change. This reality has arguably been heightened by COVID-19, forcing even more attention to identifying recovery measures which do not exacerbate existing vulnerabilities. Using future scenarios methodology, the chapter identifies four possible scenarios for Jamaica, highlighting the limitations and opportunities for socioeconomic recovery post-COVID-19. In so doing, it also identifies the means, actors and actions for achieving the most desirable scenario from the perspective of resilience and adaptation to climate change (SDG 13) and the preservation of biodiversity (SDGs 14 and 15). It concludes that Jamaica is currently on a trajectory which does not sufficiently consider the risks of climate change and biodiversity loss. Notwithstanding, there is optimism that the government will implement policies to arrest the current trajectory, including integrating economic development planning with the imperatives for climate change adaptation and protecting biodiversity and giving more voice to non-governmental stakeholders.

Economic and social inequality in Mexico presents a challenge in the transformative recovery of the country. This chapter aims to identify opportunities and multi-actor actions in the different scenarios of economic growth and sustainable development for Mexico in the coming years. We managed to propose public policy recommendations for the country by building future scenarios along with the participation of representatives from government, business, civil society and academia. A regenerative Mexico by 2030 requires policies that encourage private, domestic and foreign investment; regulatory frameworks for investment in clean technologies; implementation of tax incentives to promote a green economy and cooperative and inclusive models, such as the social and solidarity economy. Inclusive and collaborative multi-actor actions among the country's sectors become the common denominator of future scenarios for Mexico from an optimistic, resilient and hopeful perspective for its population.

This chapter establishes a path to rebuilding business and regenerating society in Peru, focusing on the limitations and opportunities for recovery following COVID-19, from the perspective of mitigating the effects of climate change and biodiversity loss. The study is divided into five sections. First the Peruvian context and background are introduced. Next, the position of Peru in the 2030 Agenda is outlined. The third section describes the research methodology, followed by a discussion of the results in the fourth section, analysing how to overcome negative trade-offs and achieve the best possible balanced scenario. Finally, the fifth section offers recommendations and insights for policymakers.

Seeking to contribute, from an academic perspective, to the construction of a better tomorrow that leaves no segment of society behind, this final chapter presents arguments for building sustainable futures that are possible through regenerative development. We talk about ‘futures’ in the plural, because there is more than one future that could be sustainable. We explain the importance of prioritising positive values involving the environment, society and markets, ethical considerations of doing no harm and the search for regenerative relationships that lead to collective action. We also explain that regeneration goes beyond restoration. This chapter is divided into four parts. First, we discuss regenerative capitalism. Then, we explain why climate action must be collective and must involve business, governments, academia and civic organisations. The third part presents a concise summary of the findings of the studies presented in this book. Finally, we explain why we need a new social contract to achieve the goal of sustainable futures through regenerative development.