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United Nations, January 6 (RHC)-- The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) on Wednesday urged a transformation in the consumption of resources such as fossil fuels and minerals in Latin America and the Caribbean, as it is estimated that by 2050 it will increase to 25 tons per capita above the six or eight tons considered sustainable.

According to the UNEP report entitled The Weight of Cities in Latin America and the Caribbean: Future Resource Requirements and Potential Pathways for Action, nations on the Latin American continent consumed between 12.5 and 14.4 tons per capita of resources per year in 2015, with Mexico and Brazil being the largest consumers.

"Many of the inhabitants of Latin America and the Caribbean today suffer the effects of unsustainable resource use: environmental degradation, lack of access to services and, as a result, a bleak future," asserted UNEP's regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean, Jacqueline Álvarez.

In this sense, it is necessary to establish integral planning, necessary to prevent the severe degradation of ecosystems; it includes the need for ecological means of transportation, furniture constructions that do not compromise the environment, as well as the sanitation of aquifer systems.

On the other hand, UNEP warns that in the time period of 40 years, the built-up areas in the continent increased by 99 percent, and at the same time the urban population grew by 95 percent, and consequently the inequality gap widened in vulnerable communities.

"A sustainable transformation is crucial in a region in harmony with nature and leaving no one behind; now that a sustainable recovery of Covid-19 is urgently needed," stressed the institution.