Unlocking access to climate finance, especially in emerging markets and developing economies, is critical to closing the adaptation gap, protecting countries most vulnerable to climate change, and contributing to lower-carbon development. Thursday the participants of the Round table on climate finance and the energy transition in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The two-day event held at the headquarters of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in Santiago de Chile is one of the five Regional Forums on Climate Initiatives to Finance Climate Action and the Sustainable Development Goals that serve as preparation for the 27th United Nations Climate Conference (COP27).
During her speech by videoconference, the Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations warned that the region is “in a race against the clock.”
“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 renewables,” said Amina Mohammed.
For his part, the President of COP 27 and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt, Sameh Shoukry, stressed that the promotion of new financial instruments and the predictability of climate financing in developing countries is essential to achieve the objectives of the Agreement of Paris.
The ambassador of the European Union in Chile, León de la Torre, called for accelerating the global transition towards climate-neutral, resilient, sustainable and resource-efficient economies and societies, and mentioned the European Union’s goal of reducing 55% of polluting emissions 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 ECLAC, its interim executive secretary, Mario Cimoli, and the director of the Commission’s Sustainable Development and Human Settlements Division, José Luis Samaniego, warned that Latin America and the Caribbean began to contribute 8.3% of polluting global emissions to 10% in a few years
“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 achieve better advances”, he asserted.
Samaniego presented a compendium with 55 projects distributed among 24 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, that require financing of almost 16,000 million dollarswith an impact of reducing CO2 emissions of 24.6 million tons per year, equivalent 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.
It is expected that the Round table on climate finance and the energy transition in Latin America and the Caribbean Activate processes to finalize investment agreements between those responsible for project portfolios of the governments of Latin America and the Caribbean and financial institutions.
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