For the first time in history, Latin America and the Caribbean will have a unique space at the Climate Summit

For the first time in the history of the United Nations Climate Summits (Conferences of the Parties to the Climate Change Convention, COP), Latin America and the Caribbean will have an exclusive space to make their voices heard and position themselves as a region of solutions. global challenges to climate change, especially thanks to its rich biodiversity and its key role in the deployment of renewable energy and sustainable agri-food production.

The LAC Pavilion at COP28 in Dubai, designed, managed and financed by CAF, will become a space for meeting, debate and analysis on the most burning issues of climate action in the region, and will be available to Latin American and Caribbean, media, NGOs, community leaders, indigenous communities, Afro-descendant peoples and civil society.

The LAC Pavilion will host more than 20 events and will have a television set where leading global experts on climate change will be interviewed. All this activity can be followed live and recorded through a special website prepared by CAF.

This Latin American and Caribbean space at COP28 will analyze and highlight the main ecosystems of the region, thus highlighting the importance of regional cooperation for effective action. Among others, the biological corridor and the Mesoamerican barrier reef, the paramos, the Amazon rainforest, the mangroves, Patagonia, the Caribbean will be addressed, presenting in each case the problems they face, their key role in ecosystem services and in the implementation of solutions based on nature and the importance of action at the regional level.

The conservation, restoration and sustainable use of strategic ecosystems is essential, not only to ensure the preservation of ecosystem services on a regional and global scale, but also to combat climate change, through mitigation and adaptation actions.

Latin America and the Caribbean facing climate change

The region emits less than 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, but it is one of the regions most affected by the impact of global warming. Given the pressing climate crisis and the loss of biodiversity, and given its unique natural ecosystems, it is a crucial region for preserving the planet's climate stability.

It will not be possible to achieve decarbonization of the planet or harmony with nature without relying on the extraordinary wealth of the region's strategic ecosystems, its mitigation potential and its nature-based solutions. Nor will it be possible to solve food insecurity without taking into account the region's enormous agricultural production capacity and the challenges of the agroecological transition.

The data speak for themselves. With six of the world's most biodiverse countries containing 70% of the world's mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian, plant and insect species, Latin America and the Caribbean is a region of solutions. In addition, the region has 40% of the world's biodiversity and more than 25% of the world's forests, while 50% of the Caribbean's plant life is found nowhere else on the planet. However, mainly due to the steady rise in temperatures, the region is losing biodiversity at rates well above the global average.

Latin America and the Caribbean also has a key role to play in the energy transition, which is essential to limit global warming. To comply with the Paris Agreement and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, a widespread deployment of non-conventional renewable energies in the region will be required, as well as sustainable use of water, biomass and critical mineral resources.

The region will also need to move towards sustainable and productive agricultural production that limits emissions from land use and, at the same time, reduces the impacts of climate change, thus ensuring sustainable food production on a global scale.

Latin America and the Caribbean is a diverse region that has faced the most challenging effects of climate change in recent years. Achieving green, fair and inclusive economic development requires working together on climate action and biodiversity protection to position the countries of the region as drivers of solutions to global problems.

Check out the LAC special at COP28