Guatemala

Guatemala is the largest economy in Central America. Despite relatively high economic growth during the last decade, progress in inequality and poverty reduction has been limited. In recent years, Guatemala has taken steps to promote the greening of its economy through the deployment of its Environmental Fiscal Strategy. The policy envisages a set of fiscal instruments to improve pricing of environmentally harmful economic activities, thus supporting national climate change and sustainability objectives.

Led by the Ministry of Public Finance, Guatemala joined PAGE in 2018, aiming to reformulate economic policies around sustainability for greater social inclusion and green growth. While changes in the national government led to an extension of the inception phase for PAGE, efforts in 2021 have focused on completing a national green economy stocktaking study, identifying priorities, and supporting implementation of the Environmental Fiscal Strategy. 

The COVID-19 pandemic further delayed PAGE work, as the country experienced an extensive lockdown. Within this context, Guatemala´s Economic Recovery Plan, focused on job creation and strategic investments, was launched at the end of 2020. To promote a green recovery, PAGE has developed a proposal to strengthen sustainability objectives within existing policy frameworks such as the Strategy for Strengthening Value Chains, the Low Emissions Development Strategy, the Environmental Fiscal Strategy and the above-mentioned recovery plan.