PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos Islands, CMC – Director of the Creative Economies Agenda of the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF), Franz Rojas, says the financial institution has set itself a renewed agenda to become the green bank of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Rojas said that the position was influenced by the ongoing climate change crisis affecting the global community and the region.
Addressing the State of the Tourism Industry Conference (SOTIC), which ends here later on Friday, the flagship event of the Barbados-based Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), Rojas said the Caribbean and Latin America have become very vulnerable to climate change, adding “so we are supporting and have a commitment to this region.”
He said the target is to achieve 40 percent of financing with the expectation of being green by 2026.
“We are now at 30 percent, but the expectation is to have in four more years 40 percent of our finances being green,” said Rojas, adding that the second goal of the institution’s renewal agenda relates to inclusive growth.
Rojas said that CAF understands that the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic affected the region significantly, noting that while both Latin America and the Caribbean region comprise eight to nine percent of the global population, in terms of deaths due to the pandemic, about 30 percent.
“So it reflects how vulnerable our region is to pandemics, and we understand that governments are working towards achieving growth again.
“This is why we are convinced that his growth must be sustainable and inclusive. So we are driving economic growth with positive effects reaching all segments of society and reaching the goal of economic sustainability and regional integration.”
The CAF director said that the bank’s commitment is to provide technical and financial assistance to develop projects closely related to climate change.
“We are talking about adapting projects to increase resilience in different sectors but also in tourism, where we are talking about infrastructure resilience.
“How to become more efficient in protecting against natural hazards. We understand that the Caribbean and Latin America are more vulnerable to national disasters, so how we work with infrastructure to increase resilience in terms of protection, restoration and generally more resistant to natural hazards.”
He said the CAF also promotes sustainable economic development by strengthening key sectors.
Rojas told the delegates to SOTIC that what is seen from the Caribbean is that in 2022, the gross domestic product (GDP) growth was estimated at 10 percent, making it one of the largest in the global world.
“This is because of the strength issue and that after the pandemic, the cost of living has increased, flights are more regular, and hotel accommodation is up again, and this relates to this substantial and lavish offering we have, especially in this region.
“This is a great opportunity because if this region needs to grow further, it has to be sustainable to attract more visitors. This remains the key driver for sustainable growth in this part of the world,” the CAF Director told the conference.
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