Credentials and experience
- Education: Economist, Universidad de Antioquia (Medellín, Colombia).
- Experience: Covering the environment and sustainable development since 2013.
- Data work: research and direct work with the databases of the major international research bodies — the World Bank, the FAO, the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the United Nations and the OECD.
- Approach: turning that data into a simple, visual format — tables, maps and charts that make each country’s environmental situation clear at a glance.
- Publications: 210 articles published on Desarrollo Sustentable since 2013, including 163 country profiles of natural resources.
- Location: Medellín, Colombia.
How this data is collected, verified and updated: editorial standards and methodology. For corrections or questions: juanmonto5@hotmail.com.
Oceania Natural Resources: Iron, Lithium and Coral Reefs
Oceania holds some of the most strategic natural resources on the planet: Australia produced around 930 million tonnes of iron ore in 2024 and was the world’s largest lithium producer with 88,000 tonnes, while the region is home to close to 185 million hectares of forest and to the Great Barrier Reef, covering some 344,400…
Latin America Natural Resources: Copper, Lithium and Oil
Latin America is one of the richest regions on Earth in natural resources: it holds the world’s largest tropical rainforest (the Amazon, home to at least 10% of all known species), the largest proven oil reserves (Venezuela, some 303 billion barrels), more than half of the world’s identified lithium resources in the Chile-Argentina-Bolivia “triangle”, and…
Amazon Rainforest Natural Resources: Water and Wildlife
The Amazon holds the most valuable natural resources on the planet: more than half of the world’s remaining tropical rainforest (some 5.5 million km²), close to one in every ten known species on Earth, roughly 56.8 billion tonnes of above-ground carbon, and a river that discharges around 15% of all the fresh water reaching the…
North America Natural Resources: Oil, Silver and Forests
North America holds exceptional natural wealth: Mexico is the world’s largest silver producer with 6,300 tonnes in 2024 (USGS), the United States leads global oil production at 13.2 million barrels a day (EIA) and Canada holds 369 million hectares of forest, close to 9% of the world total (NRCan). Add the Great Lakes, which hold…
Sustainable Consumption: What It Is and Real Examples
Sustainable consumption is the use of products and services with the least possible impact on the environment, also called responsible or conscious consumption. What is sustainable consumption in practice? According to the UN (2011), it seeks to minimize the negative effects of consumption and production while improving quality of life, taking the product’s whole life…
History of Sustainable Development: Origins and Milestones
The history of sustainable development comes from two ideas meeting: development, tied to the notion of progress since Greek and Roman times, and sustainability. The word sustainability was already in use among German foresters in the 18th century, and thinkers such as Thomas Robert Malthus were warning about the limits of population growth. So where…
Europe Natural Resources: Forests, Gas and Minerals
Europe holds around 25% of the world’s forest area, the largest share of any region (FAO 2025), is home to the planet’s largest natural gas reserves in Russia, and protects more than 1.29 million km² through the Natura 2000 network. Its natural resources span strategic minerals, North Sea hydrocarbons, rivers such as the Volga, and…
Asia Natural Resources: Oil, Rare Earths, Rice and Water
Asia, the largest continent on the planet with its 48 countries, holds the world’s greatest concentration of natural resources: close to 48% of oil reserves (Saudi Arabia alone accounts for 267 billion barrels) and more than 50% of natural gas reserves, it produces around 70% of the world’s rare earths and grows more than 90%…
Africa Natural Resources: Cobalt, Platinum, Gold and Oil
Africa holds close to 30% of the world’s critical mineral reserves, including 76% of cobalt (DR Congo) and around 70% of phosphates (Morocco), along with the second-largest rainforest on the planet: the Congo Basin. What are Africa’s main natural resources? The continent stands out for its strategic minerals (cobalt, platinum, gold, diamonds, bauxite), its oil…
What Is Sustainable Development? Definition and Principles
Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own. That definition comes from the 1987 Brundtland report, Our Common Future, and rests on two ideas: human needs, especially those of the poorest, and the limitations of the environment and of technology. What…
