Without biodiversity there is no sustainable development in Latin America and the Caribbean

Latin America and the Caribbean is in a state of great environmental, social and economic vulnerability to the increase in climate change. The effects of global warming are felt throughout the world and in many areas, and are evident in LAC, which only produces 11% of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, especially through land use.

According to the CAF Economy and Development Report (RED), presented at the IE University in Madrid, the most frequent extreme climate events in Latin America and the Caribbean are floods and tropical cyclones and these, together with droughts, are the that affect more populations every year. Furthermore, 60% of Latin American cities had heat waves between 2011 and 2020, and 28% of these were extreme.

Latin America and the Caribbean has the capacity to provide global solutions to the challenge of climate change, thanks to its rich biodiversity, its large amount of natural resources and the richness of its natural ecosystems.

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Sergio Díaz-Granados Guida, executive president of CAF.

The CAF report, titled Global challenges, regional solutions Latin America and the Caribbean in the face of the climate and biodiversity crisis, brings together the most recent research on climate change on the planet and the region, ranging from the physical bases to the economic perspective. The RED examines the sustainability of economic activities in the production and consumption stages, the state of ecosystems and biodiversity, and the coordination challenges in international climate change and conservation policy to propose the best responses to this global challenge.

Latin America and the Caribbean has 9.3 million km2 of forests, a quarter of the planet's forest cover, which contribute each year to the mitigation of climate change with the capture of 1.1 GtCO2eq, host enormous biodiversity and offer important ecosystem services to the population at the local and regional level. Therefore, stopping deforestation is crucial.

The RED presents a menu of public policy proposals: sustainable agricultural practices, nature-based solutions, investments in adaptation infrastructure, policies for disaster risk management, policies to regenerate and preserve ecosystems, and promotion of natural resources. renewable energy, among others. For example, carbon credit markets are a tool to finance the conservation and regeneration of the region's ecosystems with high potential. CAF leads the Latin American and Caribbean Regional Carbon Market Initiative (ILACC), which has the involvement and participation of 13 development banks in the region.

In any case, all initiatives to improve or implement must start from the idea that the public policy of prevention, mitigation or conservation in climate matters and biodiversity conservation is essential to make the development process sustainable. Building a sustainable development model requires integrating these policies with those aimed at promoting economic growth and social inclusion, which can give rise to complementarities and tensions that must be managed.

“Latin America and the Caribbean has the capacity to provide global solutions to the challenge of climate change, thanks to its rich biodiversity, its large amount of natural resources and the richness of its natural ecosystems. The RED is a great contribution so that the governments of the region can design first-level public policies, based on quality diagnoses that provide the data and analysis necessary to fully understand the problem,” said Sergio Díaz-Granados, executive president of CAF.

“For the School of Politics, Economics and Global Affairs of IE University it is an honor to host the presentation of the CAF RED report. This latest edition addresses the climate challenge and the loss of diversity, providing original and innovative proposals on how the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean can respond to this challenge by capitalizing on their enormous natural and human wealth in terms of mitigation, adaptation and preservation. without losing sight of the importance of fostering economic dynamism and promoting equity,” stressed Manuel Muñiz, International Rector of IE University and Dean of the School of Politics, Economics and Global Affairs of IE University. “These are values ​​and messages that we share and that encourage us to continue working with CAF to promote the development of the region”

“Latin America occupies a central role in the solution to the climate and biodiversity crises. From the Spanish Group for Green Growth (GECV) we consider that CAF is a global benchmark in green financing and sustainable development and we defend the role of public-private collaboration to take advantage of the opportunities of climate action and biodiversity," he said Gonzalo Sáenz de Miera, president of the Spanish Group for Green Growth (GECV).