Current policies against global warming are generating higher energy costs hurting the poorest in particular.
An article by Bjørn Lomborg, published in Nacion.com, notes that "Energy generation using solar and wind power received $6o billion in grants in 2012 alone. This means that the world spent $60 billion more on energy than was necessary. And as the climate benefit achieved amounted to a mere $1.4 billion, this means basically that $58.6 billion of the subsidies was wasted. In addition, a further $19 billion in subsidies was spent on biofuels which basically provide no climate benefit. All that money could have been used to improve health care, hire more teachers, make better roads or reduce taxes. "
Billions of dollars that alleviate poverty but put conditions on the productive development of Central American countries.
Taking the example of El Salvador, whose economy over the last 20 years has received $40 billion dollars sent by Salvadorans from abroad, an article by Roberto Flores in Alainet.org points to the extraordinary influence of the phenomenon in reducing the poverty-despite the stagnation of the Salvadoran economy-but also its involvement in the country's productive matrix.
In the Global Human Development Index 2010, Panama is ranked 54, Costa Rica 62, El Salvador 90, Honduras 106, Nicaragua and Guatemala 115 and 116 respectively.
The Central American countries, like others in Latin America, continue to improve in most variables measuring human development and the HDI Program published by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
Honduras’ population grows by 2.5% each year; in the most impoverished areas the rate is even higher.
According to the National Statistics Institute of Honduras, in 1988 the country had 4.616.000 inhabitants and by 2001 it had grown to 6 and a half million. Estimates for 2010 put the figure in 8.045.990. Honduras’ birth rate stands at 28.4 births for each 1000 inhabitants.