Peru Environment - 2024

Environment - current issues

deforestation (some the result of illegal logging); overgrazing leading to soil erosion; desertification; air pollution in Lima; pollution of rivers and coastal waters from municipal and mining wastes; overfishing

Environment - international agreements

party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protection, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Marine Dumping-London Protocol, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Climate

varies from tropical in east to dry desert in west; temperate to frigid in Andes

Land use

agricultural land: 18.8% (2018 est.)

arable land: 3.1% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 1.1% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 14.6% (2018 est.)

forest: 53% (2018 est.)

other: 28.2% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 78.9% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 1.33% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Revenue from forest resources

0.12% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 29.07 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 57.41 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 30.17 megatons (2020 est.)

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 8,356,711 tons (2014 est.)

municipal solid waste recycled annually: 334,268 tons (2012 est.)

percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 4% (2012 est.)

Major lakes (area sq km)

fresh water lake(s): Lago Titicaca (shared with Bolivia) - 8,030 sq km

Major rivers (by length in km)

Amazon river source (shared with Brazil [m]) - 6,400 km
note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth

Major watersheds (area sq km)

Atlantic Ocean drainage: Amazon (6,145,186 sq km)

Major aquifers

Amazon Basin

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 2.24 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial: 3.51 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural: 32.8 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total renewable water resources

1.88 trillion cubic meters (2020 est.)

Geoparks

total global geoparks and regional networks: 1

global geoparks and regional networks: Colca y Volcanes de Andagua (2023)