Under the theme "Peace with Nature," COP16 will review the progress of the commitments made by countries in 2022, calling for reflection to improve our relationship with the environment, rethink an economic model that does not prioritize extraction, overexploitation, and pollution of nature.
In this context, the Latin American and Caribbean perspective is essential for both the socio-economic and environmental future of the region and the planet's sustainability. CAF - Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean - will have a pavilion at COP16 open to all countries in the region, with the theme #BiodiversityUnitesUs, which will be a place of dialogue and visibility, where innovative initiatives in ecosystems such as mangroves, the Amazon, the Caribbean, the Chocó biogeographic region, Patagonia, and the Galapagos will be presented. There will also be spaces in the area designated in Cali for meetings with civil society and social agents.
Now is the time for Latin America and the Caribbean to strengthen their narrative and enhance their role as a region of solutions, requiring a coordinated effort and a unity of wills that must prevail over differences. We are one of the richest regions on the planet in biological diversity. We host 40% of the world's biodiversity, and six countries in the region (Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela) are among the seventeen countries classified as "megadiverse" in the world. Thus, biodiversity becomes a factor of regional integration and positioning in the global debate that must be strengthened.
"In Latin America and the Caribbean, indigenous communities safeguard 80% of the world's biodiversity, and 36% of the remaining intact forests are found in their territories. The region has six of the world's most megadiverse countries, 11 of the Earth's 14 biomes, and the most biodiverse habitat in the world, the Amazon rainforest. These data highlight the need for new leadership to address the issue of biodiversity loss, considering the people and communities whose immediate survival depends on it and who hold the knowledge necessary to protect and regenerate it," says Alicia Montalvo, Manager of Climate Action and Positive Biodiversity at CAF.
CAF at COP16
With the Latin America and the Caribbean Pavilion, CAF will bring the region's voice to COP16 to highlight its leading role in the preservation of global biodiversity.
CAF aims to generate debates around the value of strategic ecosystems, the importance of working on the blue economy, the role of youth, the need to implement innovative financing systems (such as green bonds and debt-for-nature swaps), and the communities and territories on the front lines of biodiversity preservation.
CAF will address biodiversity loss and the use of financial resources with a new perspective that places communities with direct relationships with the natural environment at the center of the decision-making process and who are best positioned to design actions leading to ecosystem regeneration in a manner consistent with the social and environmental context.
To this end, CAF has identified 15 priority strategic ecosystems in Latin America and the Caribbean, including the Amazon, the Caribbean, the Mesoamerican dry corridor, the Cerrado, Patagonia, and the páramos, and is developing actions to cover the identified gaps, offering solutions based on nature, engineering, and governance.
At the Climate Change COP in Dubai, CAF presented this approach, highlighting the region's role as a region of solutions, as the conservation of ecosystems will not only address climate change challenges through massive CO2 emissions absorption but also tackle food security problems through regenerative agriculture.
Through the ecosystemic approach, CAF aims to show that ecosystems are key to regional integration, as the challenges they face do not understand borders, and their connectivity is essential to preserving environmental balance.