Asunción, IP Agency.-At the inauguration of the Latin American and Caribbean Pavilion at COP16 in Cali, CAF announced a USD 300 million program to conserve and restore the key strategic ecosystems of the region, as the Amazon, the Atlantic forests, the Pantanal, the Chaco, Patagonia, Antarctica and the Humboldt Current, among others.
The project also It will mobilize more financial resources and improve coordination between local governments, the private sector and civil society.
The launch of this program, which was attended by the vice president of Colombia, Francia Márquez, of the Minister of Racial Equality of Brazil, Anielle Francoand Sergio Díaz-Granados, executive president of CAF, took place in the Latin American and Caribbean Pavilion at COP16, called #LaBiodiversidadNosUne, a space open to governments, representatives of the private sector, scientific institutions, NGOs, local communities and indigenous peoples and Afro from the entire region.
“The eyes of the region and the world are on Cali. The agreements we reach, the alliances we build and the actions we take will shape the future. These 300 million dollars are just the beginning, as we are going to offer a tool for identifying quality projects to channel donation and financing resources, which will encourage new investments to protect biodiversity in our countries,” said the executive president of CAF, Sergio Díaz-Granados.
In her speech, Francia Márquez said that “from here we send a message of peace, that long-awaited peace. We are honored, those of us from this Pacific region, to welcome you. And it’s not just the species, but also its people. People who, despite having been on their knees, get up and walk. This is also a region that has suffered from armed conflict and disproportionate violence.”
For her part, Anielle Franco mentioned the Afro-descendant Peoples of the Americas program, an articulation built with Afro-rural communities to materialize concrete actions to improve life for our people, recognizing the historical challenges and socio-environmental vulnerabilities faced by Afro-descendant peoples.
“Many times people do not understand what the documents we sign are for, such as protocols of intent and memoranda of understanding. But that was a seed that we were planting and that today we are seeing flourish. Brazil and Colombia implement this regional program with the objective of confronting the racial and socio-environmental inequalities that affect these historically excluded and marginalized peoples and communities,” said Franco.
As precedents for the fund, there is the signing, in August 2024, of a line of credit between CAF and BBVA Colombia for 50 million dollars to finance local credit operations that involve conservation, restoration, regeneration and sustainable use of strategic ecosystems. in Colombia.
And more recently, in El Salvador, CAF participated, together with other partners, in the largest debt conversion by nature in history for watershed conservation, specifically in the Lempa River region. The buyback of more than $1 billion of bonds will fund conservation, water security and ecosystem restoration.
Latin American and Caribbean Pavilion at COP16
The Latin American and Caribbean Pavilion at COP16, organized by CAF, It will put the region’s potential on the world map to lead the conservation of biodiversity, promote climate action with its exuberant ecosystems, give value to ancestral knowledge and promote the development of the blue economy.
During the two weeks of COP16, the pavilion will debate the main environmental issues affecting the region, among which the following stand out:
- Strategic ecosystems and how we innovate to finance their protection. The large ecosystems of Latin America and the Caribbean do not recognize borders, so their preservation requires greater regional integration and a comprehensive environmental vision. Protecting El Cerrado, in Brazil, is guaranteeing sustainability in the Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena region. The sustainability of the Mesoamerican biological corridor is the sustainability of the Andes.
- Science and inclusion. The pavilion will also address the role of science in promoting positive biodiversity. This collaboration between science, society and public policies is essential to confront the biodiversity crisis.
- This will also be a space to promote the inclusion of indigenous and Afro communitieswhich are at the center of our action, and symbolize what we want this space to be: a place of meeting and integration where all voices are heard for the construction of solutions.
- Sustainable cities yssolutions from local governments for biodiversity problems. More than a dozen allies will hold their events here, highlighting the enormous value of cooperation.
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