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This paper aims at assessing the sustainability of development in eleven Latin American countries. For that purpose, we establish an evaluation index system grouped into four subsystems (economic subsystem, social subsystem, ecologic subsystem and institutional subsystem). The weights for the index subsystems of sustainable development are based on the concept of entropy. The empirical results show that the sustainable development strategy in this group of countries is not efficient and is characterized by a lack of coordination between the four dimensions. This quantitative evaluation provides a new perspective for research in sustainable development researches and guidance for public policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uncertainties in evaluating bioenergy projects have lead policymakers to adopt a restrictive approach or even refuse to evaluate projects when the available information is limited or a clear perception of its benefits and impact is lacking. Indeed, despite its potential advantages, a bioenergy system poses several conceptual and operational challenges for academic as well as practical scrutiny because the inherent relationship and the intersection of areas related to energy production and agricultural activity requires a deeply integrated assessment. The aim of this paper is to review the available works in this field and propose an approach for supporting policymakers in the taking decision process of deploying sustainable bioenergy systems. The SIByl-LACAf framework provides a comprehensive framework for addressing the inherent complexity of the subject and its sustainability and acceptability as part of the evaluation process. With this approach, different and complementary evaluation methods are reviewed and set in a logical and sequential structure to draw a group of indicators used for assessing a given project with the help of a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) matrix. When acceptability is identified as an issue, a Public Consultation and Communication (PC&C) scheme can complement this process. The suggested application for Mozambique indicate that an acceptable outcome is possible even when considering the data requirements and constraints of developing countries. Thus, the potential of this integrated approach outweighs such limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The clean Development Mechanism (CDM) represents the main effort to help developing countries develop sustainably and developed countries to reach their emission reductions targets set under the Kyoto Protocol. With the ending of the first commitment period, there is an opportunity to assess the state of the CDM portfolio (2008–2012). This article is the first effort to evaluate the CDM portfolio throughout the first commitment period, as well as the first paper focused on Latin America׳s CDM portfolio as a whole, concentrating on renewable energy projects. Moreover, a special analysis is performed for Chile, Latin America׳s third most important CDM country (after Brazil and Mexico), 6th worldwide (after China, India, Korea, Brazil and Mexico) and first in CERs registered among the small countries, an ideal host because of its high political stability, government effectiveness, access to capital and regulatory quality. In addition, a study was performed on 180 renewable energy projects in Latin America, revealing that the additionality assessments performed under the CDM are too subjective, hindering the validation of the projects and their transparency. The main policy implication of this research is to expose the need for a radical change to the succeeding document to the Kyoto Protocol in order to reduce the inequality amongst host countries and ensure that CDM fulfills its sustainable development claim. Some of the proposed measures include establishing uniform benchmarks to be used against similar projects, a thorough validation for declared barriers, simplifying the registering process, and providing international aid for the least developed countries that have historically lacked the ability to participate in the CDM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]