BELMOPAN, Belize, CMC—The Regional Climate Change Platform of Economy and Finance Ministries of Latin America and the Caribbean has adopted a “Regional Vision for Sustainable Finance” to boost sustainable finance and promote effective investments that better position the countries to meet their climate commitments.
The vision, developed at the Regional Platform’s Third High-Level Dialogue late last month, will be presented at international forums and negotiations on climate change, sustainability, and protecting biodiversity.
Prime Minister John Briceño said the conference underscored the urgent need for collective action against climate change.
“The work done on a regional level has positively shaped national efforts to embed climate action into our economic and fiscal policies, and it will continue leading to meaningful outcomes,” he added.
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) said the vision underscores the countries’ commitment to creating the conditions for capital to flow toward sustainable objectives and their pledge to build a low-carbon, climate-resilient future.
“This agreement marks a turning point in regional collaboration to embed climate action and sustainability in fiscal, economic, and financial policies. We are committed to continuing to work with the platform’s member countries to achieve just and fiscally sustainable transitions that build more resilient economies,” said Jordan Schwartz, the IDB’s executive vice president.
The joint stance has five pillars.
The first is gathering support to increase the new collective quantified goal under the Paris Agreement. The current goal of mobilizing US$100 billion annually for developing countries is insufficient. A study by the Independent High-Level Expert Group on Climate Finance estimates the need at US$2.4 trillion annually by 2030.
The other pillars are improving the region’s countries’ capacity to access financing from climate and biodiversity funds, strengthening how these funds are monitored, bolstering national efforts to meet climate commitments, and supporting an overhaul of the international financial architecture for fairer and more just transitions.
Ministers and representatives from 17 countries, along with senior IDB officials, participated in the Belize meeting. The meeting also approved the platform’s new 2024–2025 work plan, and Colombia’s Ministry of Finance and Public Credit became its new president pro tempore.
“For Colombia, it is an honor to take on the pro tempore presidency of the Regional Platform. We believe it is imperative to accelerate actions to fulfill climate and environmental commitments through a fair energy, economic, and social transition,” said Colombia’s Minister of Finance and Public Credit, Ricardo Bonilla.
“I am convinced that through the commitment and regional collaboration fostered by the Platform, we will find innovative financing solutions based on our realities and advance towards the region’s sustainable development,” Bonilla added.
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