Credenciales y experiencia
- Formación: Economista, Universidad de Antioquia (Medellín, Colombia).
- Experiencia: Cubriendo medio ambiente y desarrollo sustentable desde 2013.
- Manejo de datos: investigación y explotación directa de las bases de datos de los grandes centros de investigación internacionales — Banco Mundial, FAO, Servicio Geológico de Estados Unidos (USGS), Naciones Unidas y OCDE.
- Enfoque: traducir esos datos a un formato simple y gráfico — tablas, mapas y visualizaciones que permitan entender de un vistazo la situación ambiental de cada país.
- Publicaciones: 210 artículos publicados en Desarrollo Sustentable desde 2013, incluidas 163 fichas de recursos naturales por país.
- Ubicación: Medellín, Colombia.
Cómo se obtienen, verifican y actualizan estos datos: metodología y política editorial. Para correcciones o consultas: juanmonto5@hotmail.com.
Emerging Energy Sources: Airborne Wind, Algae Fuel and Waste-to-Energy
Emerging energy sources rely heavily on renewable resources such as the sun, wind and water, and involve new methods and technologies to harness them more effectively. Notable innovations include the airborne wind farms studied by NASA, algae for biofuels and generating energy from waste. What are the new emerging energy technologies? In 1954, Lewis Strauss,…
OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050: Key Findings and Projections
The OECD’s Environmental Outlook to 2050, published in 2012, projects a world population of more than 9 billion, with 70% living in urban areas. Without action, terrestrial biodiversity would shrink by 10%, water demand would grow by 55% and greenhouse gas emissions would rise by 50% by 2050. What will the world’s environment look like…
Sustainable Development in Mexico: Progress and Challenges
Mexico is one of the most megadiverse countries in the world: according to CONABIO, it holds about 12% of the planet’s terrestrial biodiversity and ranks second in reptile species richness, third in mammals and fifth in amphibians and vascular plants. Its challenge is to conserve this natural wealth while its economy grows. What progress has…
8 Facts You Need to Know About the Global Food System
The global food system produces enough food for everyone (about 3,000 calories per person per day in 2023, according to FAO data), yet some 645 million people faced hunger in 2025. About a third of all food is lost or wasted (1.3 billion tonnes a year, according to a 2011 FAO estimate), and a handful…
Biodiversity in Colombia: Ecosystems, Species and Threats
Colombia is one of the planet’s 17 megadiverse countries: it is home to more than 83,000 recorded species and is considered the world’s second most biodiverse country, concentrating close to 10% of the planet’s biodiversity on just 0.22% of the Earth’s surface. It also has 311 types of continental and coastal ecosystems. What are the…
Why Access to Electricity Matters for Education, Health and Growth
Access to electricity remains out of reach for millions of people: according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), about 750 million people lacked electricity in 2023. Its absence holds back education, health, safety and economic growth, and it hits sub-Saharan Africa hardest: about 600 million people there had no access in 2023, 80% of the…
Sustainable Companies: What They Are and Their Global Ranking
A sustainable company has a minimal negative environmental impact and seeks to meet the triple bottom line: economy, society and the environment. Every year, Corporate Knights magazine publishes its ranking of the 100 most sustainable companies in the world; its 2015 edition only included companies with a market capitalization above US$2 billion and featured just…
UN Sustainable Development Goals: The World Toward 2030
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as the 2030 Agenda, are an intergovernmental platform of 17 goals for every community in the world. They follow on from the Millennium Development Goals, which the UN created in 2000 and which expired in 2015, and they have their origin in the 2012 Rio+20 conference. What are…
Challenges of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) replaced the Millennium Development Goals, expanding from 8 goals and 21 targets to 17 goals and 169 targets. Their sheer breadth spreads efforts thin, and they include no binding mechanisms to hold governments accountable, which makes them hard to achieve, especially in countries with weak institutions. What are the main…
How Drones Drive Sustainable Development: Uses and Examples
Drones drive sustainable development by offering greater efficiency at lower cost in sectors such as agriculture and telecommunications. They take photos with a resolution of 2 cm, compared with 30 cm for commercial satellites in 2016, and are used to monitor crops, inspect power lines and support humanitarian work, such as the 3D maps created…