Authorities call for multiplying access to financing for climate action through the massive investment of resources from public and private financial institutions

Unlocking access to climate finance, especially in emerging markets and developing economies, is crucial to closing the adaptation gap, building resilience, protecting countries most vulnerable to climate change and contributing to lower-carbon development. highlighted today authorities gathered at the Roundtable on Climate Finance and the Energy Transition in Latin America and the Caribbean, which is being held until Friday, September 2, at the headquarters of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in Santiago, Chile.

The event, which is held in a hybrid format -face-to-face and virtual-, is one of the five Regional Forums on Climate Initiatives to Finance Climate Action and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), preparatory to the 27th period of sessions of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27), which are promoted by the United Nations System, the incoming Egyptian Presidency of COP27 and the UN High-Level Climate Change Champions.

The round table was opened by Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations (virtual); Sameh Shoukry, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Arab Republic of Egypt and President-designate of COP27 (virtual); Mahmoud Mohieldin, Special Envoy on Financing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, COP27 Climate Change Champion (virtual); Nigel Topping, COP26 Climate Change Champion; León de la Torre, Ambassador of the European Union in Chile, and Joseluis Samaniego, Director of the ECLAC Division for Sustainable Development and Human Settlements.

“We are in a race against the clock,” warned Amina J. Mohammed in her opening speech, made via video message.

“Latin America and the Caribbean must have the necessary support to accelerate a just transition towards renewable energies. The region has great potential for solar and wind power generation and should be supported through strong investments, including storage capacity and great flexibility to accommodate renewable energies,” added the UN Deputy Secretary-General.

Minister Sameh Shoukry, for his part, stressed that the promotion of new financial instruments and the predictability of climate finance in developing countries is essential to achieve the objectives of the Paris Agreement.

To do this, he said, “it is urgent to unlock climate financing through the massive mobilization of public and private resources for climate action at the local, national and regional levels in all climate action issues.”

The Special Envoy on Financing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Mahmoud Mohieldin, meanwhile, stressed that there is significant potential for opportunities.

“We need a holistic approach so that the efforts made in climate action do not put at risk what we have achieved in sustainability,” he said.

Nigel Topping, COP26 Climate Change Champion, underlined the need to consider the diversity of views of the different actors in the value chain.

“We want to improve the conversation to find solutions. I am convinced that the innovation, the passion of this region will be very important”, he expressed.

For his part, the Ambassador of the European Union in Chile, León de la Torre, called for accelerating the global transition towards climate-neutral, resilient, sustainable, circular and resource-efficient economies and societies, and mentioned the goal of 55% reduction in emissions in the European Union by 2050.

“Aligning financial flows with a path to low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development is key to driving the shift towards a climate-neutral and resilient economy and society,” he said.

On behalf of the Acting Executive Secretary of ECLAC, Mario Cimoli, the Director of the Commission’s Sustainable Development and Human Settlements Division, Joseluis Samaniego, warned that Latin America and the Caribbean has the sad record of having gone through a contribute 8.3% of global emissions to 10%.

“The region is not doing very well in terms of public policies either. Only four countries apply a static carbon tax and at very low levels. The discussion on the methane tax has not yet formally started. Only one country is applying a social price to carbon in public investment, although we are trying to move forward so that this type of instrument is adopted by more countries. There is a huge field to make better progress,” he asserted.

Joseluis Samaniego emphasized that the regional forum inaugurated today focuses on projects and seeks to foster a dialogue between supply and demand for climate finance.

In this context, he presented a compendium with 55 projects distributed among 24 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, which require financing of almost 16,000 million dollars, with an impact of reducing CO2 emissions of 24.6 million tons per year equivalent to to 0.6% of regional emissions. The projects focus on topics such as resilience in Small Island Developing States (SIDS), critical and strategic minerals, electromobility, and energy transition.

The Roundtable on Climate Finance and the Energy Transition in Latin America and the Caribbean is expected to activate processes to finalize investment agreements between those responsible for project portfolios of the Governments of Latin America and the Caribbean and financial institutions, through the definition of concrete opportunities to advance in the sustainable energy transition of the region, analysis of the necessary political changes and the bottlenecks that exist for financing and interaction with both public and private sources of financing and investment to mobilize action towards the COP27.

The event has the support of the COP27 Presidency, the UN High-Level champions of climate change and the Euroclima+ program, financed by the European Union.