LAC AT COP16

With the Latin America and Caribbean Pavilion 'Biodiversity Unites Us,' CAF will bring the region’s voice to COP16 in Cali to highlight its leading role in the preservation of global biodiversity.

CAF aims to spark debates around the value of strategic ecosystems, the importance of advancing the blue economy, the role of youth, the need to implement innovative financing systems (such as green bonds and debt-for-nature swaps), and the vital role of communities and territories on the front lines of biodiversity preservation.

CAF will address, among other topics, biodiversity loss and the use of financial resources with a fresh perspective that places communities—those with direct relationships with the natural environment—at the heart of decision-making. These communities are best positioned to design actions that lead to ecosystem regeneration in ways that are aligned with their social and environmental context.

To this end, CAF has identified 14 priority strategic ecosystems in Latin America and the Caribbean, including the Amazon rainforest, Patagonia, the Orinoco region, the Caribbean Sea, and mangroves. CAF is developing actions to address the identified gaps, offering nature-based, engineering, and governance solutions.

Through the ecosystem-based approach, CAF aims to demonstrate that ecosystems are key to regional integration, as the challenges they face know no borders, and their connectivity is essential to preserving environmental balance.