Climate change isone of the mainsystemic and complex challengesthe global community isdealingwith in this century.Althoughcountries areincreasing their climate ambitionsand moreclimate actionmomentum isvisiblerecently,the world is still onacatastrophic pathwaytoglobal warming of2.7-degrees.The consequencesare alreadyevident today, butscenarios predict thatthe impactsof climate change will beevenworsein the coming decades.
We will be seeingmoredroughts and heatwaves, rising sea levels,andstrongerweather extremeslike hurricanes.It is expected thatmore than200 million peoplewill be forced to migratewithin their own countries by 2050.Societies will have to adapt to these changes,amongotherclimate-relatedimpacts.
Acting on climate change requires bold initiatives
Nevertheless, wecanstillmove the needle towards agreen andsustainable futuremanaging theimpacts ofglobaltemperature increase.Efficient cooperationand well-implemented climateprojects,builton solid strategies,policies,and funding,are needed. In Latin America and the Caribbean(LAC), theIDB Group and NDCINVESTare constantlyworking on enablingtheconditionstorealizebest-practice climate actionin the region's transition to a net-zerofuture.
Together we are building a regional roadmap for a new sustainable world.
Transitioningto agreen, inclusiveand resilient futurebringseconomic and societal benefits.Itcreates new economic sectors, jobs, and growthand supports innovativeness and entrepreneurial thinking.Countries canmodernize their energy sectorsby installing renewable energy generationand decrease dependency on fossil energy imports.People can enjoycleaner air, better transportation systemsandprofit from lower costs due toenergy-efficienthousing.
Especially given the currentcircumstances,creatingawin-win situation for countries in the LAC regionbycombining short-term pandemic relief with long-term climateaction is crucial.This results in strong demand forflexiblefundinginfocus areas, such as the health sector,provision of publicservices, employment generation, and digitalization.NDC INVESTbrings thesepriority areastogetherwith mitigation and adaptationopportunities,ensuringa just transition to a clean future.
For instance,to address the challenges and toreap the benefitsof the transition,our recent publicationFiscal Policy and Climate Changerecommends that LAC finance ministries consider fiscal policies to accelerate the transition to green economies. This includes, for example,raising standards innational investment systemsso that all newinfrastructure meets resilient criteria and is consistentwith net-zero emissions.Our insights arebased on findings thatdecarbonizingthe region's economies can create15 millionnet new jobs by 2030and every dollar invested inresilientinfrastructure and economiescan generate up to four dollars in economic benefits.
NDC INVESTis a transformationalplatform forcreating and realizing ambitious climate goals
Through the structured approach of NDC INVEST, weenable a transition to a net-zero, resilient and sustainable development that improves the quality of life and prosperity in LAC.In 2020,NDCINVESTsupported331 initiatives in 25 IDB Group membercountriesthrough the IDB,IDB Invest and IDB Lab.Compared to2019,thenumber of initiatives increased by 25%in 2020, confirming the high demand for solutions provided by NDC INVEST.
Around 2/3of the initiatives are implemented within the public sector,while the remaining 1/3 isfocused on advisory servicesand innovation promotion in the private sector.From a geographicperspective, most of our initiatives (about75%)are engagementsrealized in a specific country of the LAC region.The remainingNDC INVEST initiatives have a regional character,bolstering cooperation between countries in the regionand ensuringthattheregional impact of theexpertise and experience of NDC INVESTis maximized.
As thesenumbers show, theNDC INVEST platform has become a point of referencewith itstransformationalworkfor climate action in the LAC region.
Examples ofclimateactionand green investmentin Latin America and the Caribbean
Encouragingly,in 2020many countriesin the region,from Jamaica to Chile,havealreadybeenconnecting climate action with sustainable recovery.Moreover, positive developments such as the steep drop in the cost of renewable energy projects or electric vehiclesincrease the involvement of the private sector and citizensin adoptingnew and clean technology.
NDC INVESTisworking withpublic and privatestakeholdersin the regiontoenableapolicy environment for climate investmentsandacceleratedinnovation.Some of oursuccessful case studiesfrom 2020displayour support:
- In our publication "NDC INVEST: Supporting transformational climate policy and finance”, we describe ourframework to support governments in the design of Long Term Strategy (LTS), Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and investment plans.Through our research and experience supporting countries we have developed a toolbox fora green andsustainable development path.Together with the public sector in LAC, NDC INVESTis implementing these tools to systematically improve climate strategies and action.
- We have been supporting several countries in the region, e.g., Chile, Costa Rica,Suriname,and Barbados in thedesign of their updated NDCs. Thereby, we helped to create a link between long-term ambitionstargetingfull decarbonization and middle-term goals aiming at the highest possible reduction ofgreenhouse gasemissions until then.Additionally, we havecontributed to estimate investment andfunding needs related to the NDCs,subsequently minimizing the barriers countries face in the implementationprocess.
- Shifting the narrative fromthecosts to the aggregated benefits of green investments is essential toshow the economic potential that decarbonization bringsto the region.With our support,the governments ofChile and Peru developed cost-benefit analysis based on their LTS.In Peru, the results show thattheimplementation of the LTS can bring up toUSD 140 billion in net benefitby2050.We will continue this effort with other countries in the region to furtherestablish thatdecarbonization is not only an environmental, but also an economic necessityforLAC.
WithCOP26on the horizon, ambitious climate actionis keyforsecuring net-zero by mid-century,adaptingto protect communities and habitats,andmobilizingclimate finance.Coordinated climate initiatives through NDC INVEST, supporting bothlong-term strategies for decarbonizationas well as theconcrete implementation of mitigation and adaptation projects in the region, leads to maximized environmental benefits, reduced exposure to climate risk, and improved competitiveness.NDC INVEST remains the platform for ambitious climate action in the region.
Further reading:
NDC INVEST annual overview 2020
NDC INVEST supports Latin American climate action during coronavirus
Photo: Pexels.com