Description:
Emissions increase as economies and populations grow; however, there can also be an energy decoupling (relation between energy and GDP) and a decoupling of emissions and decarbonization (relation between emissions and energy consumption). In this way, an increase in per capita income is achieved with less energy consumption and reduced emissions (ECLAC, 2009). Examining an energy intensity index by region for 1980-2005, one sees that, in aggregate for Latin America and the Caribbean, there is no sustained process of energy decoupling, as occurred in other regions of the world. This is reflected in the fact that, in terms of world averages, increases in income have been accompanied by decreases in energy consumption. The trajectories for CO2 emissions and energy consumption in Latin America and the Caribbean in 1980-2005 show that there is a positive relation between these two variables, though it varies from one country to another. During the period in question, both energy consumption and CO2 emissions (excluding those associated with land use changes) grew in the region at an average annual rate that was higher than the world average. Likewise, for the same period, emissions in Latin America and the Caribbean grew at a rate somewhat lower than the increase in energy consumption, suggesting that there has been a slight process of decarbonization in the region.