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Can teleworking help us achieve sustainable recovery and net-zero emission economies?

February 19, 2021 por Vanessa Callau - Guy Edwards - Andrea Garcia Salinas Leave a Comment


Since the novel coronavirus struck last year forcing countries into lockdowns and social distancing measures, businesses and governments adopted new policies for working remotely. These lockdowns have caused an unprecedented experiment where more people than ever before have been teleworking to reduce the risks of spreading and contracting the virus.

While much has been written on assessing how teleworking is shaking up how we work, there has been little attention on how working remotely could contribute to achieving a sustainable recovery after the pandemic and getting to net-zero emissions by around 2050.  

While the positive environmental impacts of cutting air pollution and fossil fuels from reduced traffic by commuters driving to work will be short-lived as economies reopen, there is huge potential for continued teleworking to contribute to achieving a more sustainable future.

Teleworking is a necessity for all regions and a viable option for some sectors but not all

Many of us fortunate enough to be able to work safely from home have seen how teleworking does not undermine productivity in those sectors able to do so. Teleworking, distance training and on-demand digital platforms have become more widespread in the region. Thanks to technological advances, a significant share of the workforce was able to keep working.

In LAC, around 25 percent of all jobs can be carried out remotely, ranging from 17 percent in Peru and Guatemala to 33 percent in Brazil and Argentina. In cities reliant on renewable energy and long daily commutes by car, this shift could have helped reduce greenhouse gas emissions and shows what a more sustainable future could look like.

Many workers feel they can also be more productive teleworking especially since they save time otherwise stuck in traffic. Likewise, employees of such industries are in a privileged position in this crisis compared to others that need to move to be able to secure their income.

Such is the case of those in the informal and gig economies. Close to half of workers in LAC are part of the informal economy. The International Labour Organization says that the region has suffered the largest percentage loss of working hours globally relative to 2019 with 16.2%, or the equivalent of 39 million full-time jobs lost. Women have been disproportionately affected since they tend to have more precarious and informal jobs, which had been hit hardest.

The digital gap has also adversely affected small and medium-sized enterprises. Although there has been an increase in connectivity in LAC, closing the digital gap remains a challenge in the region where only 53 percent of the population has Internet access, and only 4 out of 10 households have a fixed broadband connection.  Millions of small and medium-sized businesses, which lack access to widespread quality and stable network services, have struggled enormously with the forced lockdowns. According to IDB research, 57% of households with a small business have had to close them.

Despite the negative impacts of the lockdowns on some sectors, the pandemic has also been an opportunity to advance labor reforms in the region. Countries such as Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador and Panama have implemented legal mechanisms so that teleworking could not only be an exemption or a possibility but could also become a formal modality of work.

Embracing a more digitalized society

As countries look towards the recovery phrase, they should invest in infrastructure, which can drive job creation and support inclusive economic growth. Investment in the digitization of infrastructure services, for example, can also increase income levels.

There are many opportunities to improve infrastructure, technology, devices and software we use to connect and work remotely. Building a more digitalized economy can help us get on a more sustainable path that leaves no one behind and eliminates regional disparities of digital access and coverage within countries.

If we embrace digitalization, we can rethink investments in traditional infrastructure such as roads and highways and reallocate resources to improve Internet access. A more digitally connected society translates into less need for road expansion and maintenance as fewer people would drive to work. More flexible work schedules can also reduce the demand for transport at peak hours and allow for transport services to increase the efficiency of infrastructure use.

This could result in reductions in congestion, air pollution and emissions. Transport is the largest and fastest growing source of energy-related emissions accounting for around one third of total carbon dioxide emissions in the region. While private vehicle ownership remains low compared with more developed regions, it is growing leading to more deadly air pollution. A drop in commuting and business travel could lead to a reduction in costs related to respiratory diseases, allergies, and other chronic conditions aggravated by pollution. Fewer lost days to illness would also help improve productivity.

The expansion of digital infrastructure and services can be a key economic driver and add tremendous progress and competitive advantages to developing economies. However, digital infrastructure comes with big investments needs. These will compete with other priorities in national and subnational budgets and will require governmental institutional capacity to attract investments, develop proper regulation, healthy markets and implement adequate supervision.

Governments and the private sector should be bold and look beyond traditional infrastructure and think about enhancing investments in digitalization. This infrastructure evolves faster and demands constant investments in research and development and in the updating of physical assets. This is important to consider as competition for limited resources will continue to be a major concern for the public sector.  

It is key to strategically prepare a pipeline of investments and prioritize projects accordingly. Public investments must provide the intended benefits, in the best possible manner, and to the largest number of beneficiaries, and serve, as much as possible, as multipliers and accelerators of other development engines. The IDB’s Sustainable Infrastructure Framework is an essential tool to support the preparation of upstream planning and the preparation of pipeline investments, as well as to ensure proper downstream execution and delivery of services, throughout the whole life cycle of projects, up to their decommission.

The pandemic is a historic opportunity to rethink the future of work and shift towards a more digitalized economy including through teleworking for those able and willing to do it. This can contribute to a sustainable recovery and getting to net-zero emission economies.   

Further reading

From Structures to Services The Path to Better Infrastructure in Latin America and the Caribbean

Sustainable and Digital Infrastructure for the Post-COVID-19 Economic Recovery of Latin America and the Caribbean: A Roadmap to More Jobs, Integration and Growth

Jobs in a Net-Zero Emissions Future in Latin America and the Caribbean

Follow us on Twitter: @BIDCambioClima 

Photo: Anna Shvets – Pexels


Filed Under: Climate change Tagged With: Sustainable infrastructure, sustainable recovery, teleworking

Vanessa Callau

Consultora da Divisão de Mudanças Climáticas do Banco Interamericano de Desenvolvimento. Especialista em comunicação para sustentabilidade e na avaliação de riscos sociais em cadeias globais de suprimentos, tem mais de 15 anos de experiência trabalhando com empresas privadas e ONGs, no Brasil e nos EUA. Ela liderou mais de 100 projetos de relatórios GRI de empresas de capital aberto no Brasil. Vanessa é mestre em Sustentabilidade pela Universidade de Harvard e bacharel em Relações Internacionais pela Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo. Siga-a em https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanessacallau/

Guy Edwards

Guy Edwards is a senior consultant in the Climate Change Division at the Inter-American Development Bank. Previously, he was a research fellow at the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society and co-director of the Climate and Development Laboratory at Brown University. He has a Master’s Degree in Latin American Area Studies from the University of London. He is the co-author of the book, A Fragmented Continent: Latin America and Global Climate Change Policies (MIT Press 2015). His work has been published by El Espectador, Climate Policy, Brookings Institution, E3G, The New York Times, Washington Post, Project Syndicate, Chatham House, Real Instituto Elcano, El Universal, El Comercio, Americas Quarterly, La Tercera, and The Guardian.

Andrea Garcia Salinas

Andrea es consultora en la División de Cambio Climático y Sostenibilidad del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo. Cuenta con siete años de experiencia como especialista en comunicación estratégica y creadora de contenido multimedia sobre cambio climático, desarrollo internacional y migraciones. Ha liderado campañas digitales y proyectos de incidencia con Climate Tracker, una red de periodismo climático en 150 países. Previamente, colaboró con asociaciones ambientales e iniciativas de conservación en la Amazonía peruana, realizó la cobertura de conferencias de la CMNUCC, y trabajó junto al PNUD Perú durante el proceso de la COP20. Andrea es Magíster en Desarrollo Internacional con mención en Ambiente y Migraciones por la Paris School of International Affairs - Sciences Po, donde colaboró con la asociación Sciences Po Refugee Help; y es Bachiller en Comunicación para el Desarrollo por la Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú.

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This blog is a space to reflect about the challenges, opportunities and the progress made by Latin American and Caribbean countries on the path towards the region’s sustainable development.

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