IDB to align its operations with Paris Agreement goals by 2023
Glasgow (UK), Nov 2 (EFE).- The Inter-American Development Bank announced Tuesday its commitment to “align its operations” by 2023 with the 2015 Paris Agreement objectives, at an event during the COP26 climate conference being held until Nov. 12 in the Scottish city of Glasgow.
The financial entity is reinforcing its contribution to the goal of limiting global warming to less than 2ºC and improving “climate resilience” with this initiative, IDB president Mauricio Claver-Carone said.
Claver-Carone pointed out that the 2015 agreement, which COP26 aims to consolidate with more ambitious emission reduction strategies, is “the linchpin of the global fight against climate change.”
By aligning with environmental goals, the IDB, the main source of multilateral financing for development projects in Latin America and the Caribbean, is to help member countries receiving loans to “fulfill their own commitments” to protect the environment.
The bank also revealed its aspiration to gradually reach “40 percent green and climate finance” by 2025. This increases its existing commitment of a minimum of 30 percent climate finance between 2020 and 2023, with which it has provided nearly $5 billion (€4.3 billion) in annual support for climate action.
The green finance goal is also in line with projects already supported by the bank for reforestation and conservation of natural capital, pollution reduction, waste management and promotion of a circular economy, among others.
The IDB has invested in twenty-eight projects with nature-based solution components in the last five years, with total financing of $815 billion (€703 billion).
Claver-Carone explained that the bank is improving its internal structure to “prioritize climate action.”
“Our role, as the leading development bank in the region, is to help our twenty-six borrowing member countries mitigate and adapt to climate risks,” he said.
“We stand ready to seize this unprecedented opportunity to achieve a decarbonized and climate-resilient future in the region,” he added.
To meet the Paris goals, the bank needs to look at ensuring that its operations do not undermine the transition to net zero emissions by the middle of the 21st century and fine-tune the management of climate-related financial exposure.
The IDB also has a mission to help its borrowing members integrate and finance climate objectives.
By the end of 2021, at least 75 percent will have submitted a review of their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
The IDB, established in 1959, also endorsed Tuesday with other multilateral banking institutions the joint statement “Nature, People and Planet” which calls for including nature in its operations and strategies and in its financial support and “bringing the nature and climate agendas closer.”
The bank also presented in Glasgow a fund of 17.5 million euros (20 million dollars) with the Germany government to “strengthen fiscal policies in Latin America and the Caribbean” to finance “technical assistance projects” for finance ministries in specific countries. EFE
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