General Conclusions 1

Transcription

1 General Conclusions 1 The III Regional Dialogue on Climate Finance in Latin America and the Caribbean was held in the city of Mendoza, Argentina, on the 17 th and 18 th of November, The meeting was attended by a number of delegates from the Ministries of Environment and Finance belonging to 19 countries. The event, led by the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of Argentina was supported by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the EUROCLIMA Program. It was also supported by the Government of Mendoza. Background. Why is there a need to promote this regional space? In accordance with Article 4.3 of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), developed countries committed to provide new and additional funding for developing countries, with the aim of transforming the economic development strategies into low carbon development ones. On the other hand, we are facing a crucial point in the negotiations intending to develop a new agreement, which is expected to strengthen the Convention implementation, while representing a major effort by all States to deal with the consequences of climate change. All this, bearing in mind the principle of common but differentiating responsibilities as well as countries respective capabilities. Addressing the consequences of the phenomenon requires considerable resources, then;, access to climate finance is crucial, especially in improving access to finance for adaptation. Thus, the First Regional Dialogue on Effective Climate Finance in Latin America and the Caribbean was held in Tela, Honduras in 2012,. The event was attended by Ministries of Environment, Development, Economy and Foreign Affairs. Also revealed the beginning of a regional commitment to join forces and share successful experiences at national level to improve access and management of financing for climate change, taking into account the particularities of the region. Continuing in this vein, in 2013 had the II Dialogue on Climate Finance held in San Salvador, Republic of El Salvador. At that time, the work continued reaffirming the 1 This document in currently under revision. 1

2 imminent need for the improvement of climate financing, analyzing access to such funding and identifying priorities for our region, and providing a space to inform participants on the topics of international agenda of negotiations based on a perspective of Latin America and the Caribbean. This time, our region has been of tremendous importance since the 20th COP will be held in the City of Lima, Peru. Providing a space for political and technical debate on climate finance, has served to exchange views, positions and seek consensus approach based on regional common needs. Within the region, many countries have initiated actions to realize the importance of having accurate information about the impact of climate change on national finances. Key aspects of the international financial architecture for climate change are currently being negotiated and it is essential that countries like ours deepen on national scope of these negotiations, to achieve better access to external financing availability. General objectives of III Dialogue This time, the Dialogue aimed to generate an open and proactive discussion space in which technical aspects relating to the financing of climate change would be discussed, seeking to inform the global process based on the experiences of countries in the region. In this sense, it also analyzed the impact on institutional articulation of regional governments. Finally, we sought to identify barriers and needs of recipient countries in climate finance to promote sustainable financial flows that allow carrying out mitigation and specially adaptation actions, which are priorities for each of the countries. During the two days, a number of issues related to climate change financing in its various aspects were discussed, which generated a rich exchange of ideas and experiences among participants. Starting in the morning of the first day, a group of presentations took place, IDB, OECD, GEF, ECLAC, UNDP and the Green Climate Fund and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The agencies presentations provided valuable inputs to the discussion. In the afternoon, participants were split into two rooms, one consisting of the Central American and Caribbean countries and other for South American countries. In both tables the same subjects were discussed. (These subjects were taken from a series of prompt questions contained in a document of previous work -see below). 2

3 The debate was organized around two main axes: 1) National aspects of climate finance; and 2) international aspects of climate finance. For the first group, we worked on a number of questions: Are our institutions prepared and / or adapted to obtain financing at large scale? Is our national financial architecture ready? Have did you successfully incorporate CC in public expenditure management (either through existing plans and programs or legislation)? Have we identified the barriers for easier access and transparency to such financing? Are national circumstances and contexts for evaluating access to climate resources taken into account? Would it help to develop tools for market development at national and regional level? What advantages would it present? Have we identified the relevant national actors in the field? How can we use existing mechanisms more effectively? Also, regarding the international aspects of financing for climate change, we worked in relation to the following questions: In our national experience, what are the constraints identified in accessing to international funds for mitigation / adaptation? How transparent, fair and equitable do we consider the distribution of available funding? What are the areas for improvement in order to accelerate access? Do you consider that the funds transferred to date and / or proposed are sufficient to meet demand on mitigation and adaptation? How do you link constraints identified with the following dimensions? : a) Capacity Building; b) Administrative Processes (national / agencies). Work on the two tables was developed during the afternoon of the first day and the morning of the second, in which both groups were integrated into the plenary hall. 3

4 Overall, they generated a series of conclusions and challenges for the region in relation to access to finance for climate change. Some of the main highlights were: Increasing the availability of international financing for climate change, especially in adaptation. Strengthening ties among countries of the region to enhance our capabilities and make further progress on climate change mitigation and adaptation, through coordinating the positions of countries in different forums in which they are involved. Strengthening cooperation between actors of civil society, the private sector, the academic sector, and Non-Governmental Organizations, in coordination with the public sector who have entrusted the task. Structuring national, regional and international organizations to learn from similar experiences and move forward together with coordinated strategies. Some of the aspects highlighted among participants have been to strengthen the links between politicians and technicians to improve driving and continuance of public policies on climate change levels. The permanence of trained staff to ensure that purpose is very important. In line with the above, the continuity of projects has been a topic of relevance signifying a challenge to maintain technical equipment, as well as the actors involved in these projects. One of the most discussed aspects during the two days of work was related to the institutional dimension. In this connection, Are countries prepared to receive international funding? Thus, the need to strengthen the existing government structure and intergovernmental cooperation on climate finance was discussed. According to what was discussed, it is not always necessary to generate new structures but to optimize existing institutions. In addition, countries have shown that the region takes efforts to strengthen its mechanisms against the dynamic course of international financing. In its multiple realities, Latin America and the Caribbean show that it is possible to advance in this path, but it is also critical for our communities to achieve sustainable development, to count with international support. The inclusion of accounting of national efforts on climate change printing another challenge that progress has been made in the region. Some countries are already working on this issue, offering the possibility that governments (in different dimensions) can quantify the efforts already made to both adaptation and mitigation of climate change. 4

5 It is important to note that the climate accounting has benefits in terms of knowing more precisely which aspects may require support, and to strengthen the position of countries in international negotiations. Another recurring theme has also been the need to simplify procedures for access to available financing. Streamlining administrative processes is important in order to respond to immediate needs. Linked to this, the importance of preparing national agencies for this could significantly simplify these processes. This aspect has, in turn, two dimensions that matter in order to simplify the internal processes in the countries to implement the international financing; and that involves simplifying procedures for access and readiness of funding from or channeled through multilateral agencies. Regarding the role of national implementing agencies as a simplified process, it has been mentioned the existing gaps between the requirements of the multilateral agencies and those of national implementing agencies. A relevant point, related to the simplification of processes, was the access to international financing from local governments. It is perhaps one of the most concrete calls of this Dialogue, both to international agencies and national governments. Thus, it is necessary to advance to simple and direct schemes to facilitate local governments (in its different levels) access and use of international climate finance. With regard to the mobilization and involvement of the private sector, countries are at different stages of development. Clearly there is still a long way to go, according to visions of each country. However, participation of private sector is essential for the continuation of many projects. 5