International expert authorities and corporations discuss the challenges and opportunities of climate change

The 2018 Latin America and Caribbean Climate Week is a forum to encourage collaboration between governments and the private sector to reverse climate change. This year, it took place in Montevideo, with the support of CAF-development bank of Latin America- and other international organizations including the World Bank, United Nations, Inter-American Development Bank, Latin American Energy Organization, International Emissions Trading Association, and the regional LEDS LAC platform.

Government authorities, businesses and civil society institutions attended the three-day event at the Radisson Montevideo Victoria Plaza, which focused on the Latin American and Caribbean Carbon Forum (LACCF).

German Ríos, CAF representative in Uruguay, was one of the keynote speakers of the event, where participants exchanged experiences on the development of resilient, low-carbon infrastructure, carbon markets, sustainable transportation, energy markets, climate compatible cities, sustainable production and consumption, and climate financing, among other issues.

“Our businesses are increasingly focused on encouraging economies that are able to withstand the changes affecting the planet. Our goal as an institution is to provide 30% of our funding for green projects by 2020, and we take this task very seriously. We are accredited with the Green Climate Fund, the Adaptation Fund and the Global Environment Facility, whose purpose is to support our 19 member states. We also have our own lines of green financing, technical cooperation, and tools in order to help countries meet their environmental goals,” said Ríos.

He also explained that the organization is planning to collaborate with the region on two important issues regarding reduction of emissions, in order to move towards a more sustainable planet. First, creating knowledge about what is happening and the need for information so that actions can have the intended impact, and second, the importance of institutional strengthening for access to global support mechanisms.

“About 98% of Uruguay’s power generation is renewable, of which 26% is wind energy. Five years ago that number was zero. A political decision and private sector engagement managed to shift the energy matrix, with the participation of CAF and the Inter-American Development Bank,” he said. Ríos also highlighted the binational project that the organization is developing together with Uruguayan and Argentinian authorities to reduce vulnerability to climate change of the residents of the Uruguay River basin.

CAF led three panel discussions at the event, the first of which was titled “Climate Resilient, Low Carbon Infrastructure” and focused on analyzing the risks, benefits and costs for the region of not having infrastructure that can adapt to climate change and reduce gas emissions. 

In this regard, the head executive of the Social Development Project department at CAF, Jorge Concha, participated in the dialogue and focused his presentation on the Río Luján basin project, the first adaptation funding plan approved by the Green Climate Fund. “Latin America and the Caribbean is the one of the most vulnerable regions to the effects of climate change, especially floods. “Argentina is one of the hardest hit countries: one of every three Argentinians lives in risk areas and the associated cost is about US$ 700 million,” Concha said. The plan seeks to prevent floods, manage river flows and dampen the effect of flooding, directly benefiting 1.6 million Argentinians.

In addition, the head executive of Sustainability, Inclusion and Climate Change at CAF, Alejandro Miranda, participated in the forum on “Climate Compatible Cities” and stressed the relevance and the role of cities in the fight against climate change. “More than 70% of Latin Americans live in cities and the figure is expected to reach 90% by 2050; 55% of the regional GDP is generated in urban centers, and cities consume two-thirds of the global energy and are responsible for 70% of greenhouse gas emissions,” explained the expert.

Miranda pointed out that the commitments that countries undertook under the Paris Agreement on Climate Change in 2015 should be implemented primarily at sub-national level. He also said that “migrating to sustainable, climate compatible city models will bring not only environmental benefits but also great economic and social dividends.”

Finally, a panel on “Climate Financing: Innovative financing instruments” was held, where the head executive of the Sustainability, Inclusion and Climate Change department at CAF, Mateo Salomon, explained the role of the multilateral agency in mobilizing climate financing.

He stressed that CAF, as a member of the Development Banks Club has undertaken, together with other members, to redirect an important portion of its financial flow to projects with a positive environmental and climate impact. He also explained the efforts made by CAF to channel funds for green financing through local financial institutions in the region and thus facilitate access to small and medium-sized enterprises.