By: Staff Writer
October 21, 2026
The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) said in a recent report that 60 percent of the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region’s energy comes from renewable sources.
The report, Mapping sustainability in Latin America and the Caribbean: sectoral and energy transition insights from sustainable bonds, 2014–2024, said: “Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is emerging as a frontrunner in the global energy transition. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), more than 60% of the region’s installed capacity already comes from renewable sources, and the International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that investments in this sector have generated over 1.2 million jobs in the past five years. These advances position LAC as a leader in moving toward a low-carbon economy while fostering employment and industrial opportunities
“Yet the region also faces a challenging development moment. Structural “development traps”—low capacity to grow, high levels of inequality, limited social mobility, and weak institutions—continue to hinder the construction of an inclusive and sustainable productive model (Salazar-Xirinachs, 2023). At the same time, uneven progress toward the 2030 Agenda highlights the urgency of mobilizing resources for strategic transformations, particularly the energy transition”
The region is need of a “big push for sustainability,” which includes a comprehensive strategy that promotes productivity, social inclusion, and environmental sustainability, the report further noted.
In the past ten years, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) have increasingly turned to green, social, sustainability, and sustainability-linked (GSSS) bonds as a source of financing.
Since the region’s first green bond in 2014, issuers have raised more than US$164 billion in international markets. These funds have helped drive renewable energy, sustainable farming and forestry, social programs, and other projects that support sustainable development. This trajectory mirrors global trends and shows the region’s role in the expansion of sustainable finance.
Between 2014 and 2024, 106 regional issuers placed 278 GSSS bonds in 16 currencies. The sovereign sector dominated with 52% of the total, largely driven by Chile’s issuances since 2019. Beyond sovereigns, the leading sectors were finance (11.5%), energy (9.6%), forestry and paper (5.5%), food and beverage, agribusiness (5.1%), and industry, chemicals (5.1%). Together with sovereigns, these sectors accounted for nearly 88% of total issuance in the ten-year period.
The report also said: “Over the past decade, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) has increasingly turned to green, social, sustainable, and sustainability-linked (GSSS) bonds as a source of external financing. The market has expanded rapidly, involving sovereign, corporate, and supranational issuers, and consolidating its presence in strategic sectors such as energy, finance, and forestry. This growth mirrors global trends in sustainable finance and highlights the region’s integration into broader transformations in capital markets.”
It added: “GSSS bonds are contributing to measurable outcomes. At the descriptive level, more than US$ 160 billion were issued in international markets between 2014 and 2024, with sovereigns dominating and productive sectors—particularly energy—playing a central role. At the econometric level, results suggest that among the region’s top five issuers (Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru), greater energy-sector international GSSS issuance was significantly associated with higher installed renewable capacity per capita in the ten-year period analysed. This indicates that GSSS bonds are supporting the expansion of infrastructure linked to the energy transition.”