In many countries, economic growth has long been accompanied by an increase in greenhouse gas emissions. Uruguay, though, has managed to decouple emissions from growth, largely due to its incorporation of energy from non-traditional sources, including wind, solar and biomass, in addition to traditional hydropower. Thanks to this work, more than 90 per cent of the energy used in the country is from renewable sources.
Uruguay’s work to lower emissions is part of a larger push at home and abroad to counter the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste, says environment minister Robert Bouvier.
“Environmental policy is increasingly becoming a national and global priority,” Bouvier said earlier this year during a visit to the headquarters of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Nairobi. “We must work together, deepen multilateralism and explore new ways of accessing cooperation.”
UNEP has long supported Uruguay’s efforts to protect the environment and has seven active projects in the country. UNEP is helping Uruguay to map out future marine protected areas, which are considered key to conserving undersea life and supporting the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, a global agreement to protect and restore the natural world. As well, UNEP is supporting Uruguay as it develops a national waste management strategy that includes closing heavily polluting dumpsites. UNEP is also supporting communities as they prepare for extreme weather and other consequences of climate change. This is “crucial” for a nation that weathered a devastating three-year drought that ended in 2023, said Bouvier.
“This event made our society aware of the reality of climate change and the urgent need for adaptation policies.”
Uruguay was one of 58 nations in 2023 to contribute its full share to UNEP’s Environment Fund, the organization’s main source of flexible funding and the bedrock of its work on the triple planetary crisis.
Bouvier says the partnership with UNEP is important for Uruguay, a smaller country with limited resources.
“We have an opportunity to access important studies, to participate in cutting-edge programmes and work on environmental issues, which would be impossible for a country like ours,” said Bouvier.
In many ways, the country of 3 million is an environmental pioneer on the international stage.
In recent years Uruguay has embraced novel financial instruments in its efforts to lower greenhouse gas emissions. The country issued a sustainability linked sovereign bond and took out a development policy loan, both of which would effectively reward the country financially for hitting its targets under the Paris Agreement on climate change. The loan is the first of its kind globally to link financing conditions to environmental performance.
Uruguay has been at the forefront of movements to limit plastic pollution and end mercury poisoning. It also spearheaded the Montevideo Environmental Law Programme, named after the country’s capital, which helps nations around the world develop and implement legislation to protect the environment.
Uruguay has long been an active player in the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA), the world’s top decision-making body on matters related to the environment. It sponsored a 2022 UNEA resolution to create a body that would provide policymakers with the latest science on chemicals, waste and pollution. Negotiators are now finetuning the details of this new science-policy panel, seen as crucial to countering a planet-wide pollution crisis that causes millions of deaths each year.
As well, Uruguay hosted the first meeting of an intergovernmental negotiating committee charged with developing a legally binding instrument on plastic pollution. The gathering was held in December 2022 in Punta del Este.
With the planet under mounting pressure, Bouvier said it is increasingly important for nations to work together on environmental issues.
“Our society demands quick and effective solutions,” said Bouvier. “We cannot achieve this alone. It is crucial to realize that we must tackle these issues collectively, ensuring that no one is left behind.”
Uruguay is one of UNEP’s funding partners, whose full-share contributions to UNEP’s Environment Fund enable agile, innovative global solutions for climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste. Learn how to support UNEP to invest in people and planet.
