CAF and OAS sign agreement to promote an inter-American agenda for climate and biodiversity action

CAF (Development Bank of Latin America) and the Organization of American States (OAS) reaffirmed their commitment to protect the environment and biodiversity through a Memorandum of Understanding in which they defined the alignments to work together to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and invest in a global low-carbon economy, with special emphasis on the regions most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, prioritizing their action in the Caribbean.

This alliance between CAF and the OAS, which strengthens the relationship between the two institutions since the signing of the first cooperation agreement in 1995, allows them to join efforts, resources and institutional capacities to contribute to a common desire: to achieve economic and social reactivation based on green, low-carbon, climate-resilient growth with a positive impact on nature, the region's most precious asset.

"Responding both to CAF's own mandate to promote regional integration and sustainable development, and to the need to contribute with effective responses to the region's main challenges, we have made the commitment to become the Green Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean. From now on, we will have a CAF that will double the size of its financing portfolio by 2030, including direct financing of USD 25 billion by 2026 to meet the environmental and climate commitments of our shareholder countries, strengthening resilience to climate change, but at the same time taking advantage of the enormous opportunity to work in favour of a positive biodiversity agenda that favours the most vulnerable regions, a space in which we will prioritise our action in the Caribbean", said Sergio Díaz-Granados, CAF's Executive President.

Díaz-Granados added that "in order to achieve our mission, it is essential to have a common and articulated vision with key actors of regional development, with whom we share the raison d'être. We cannot think of a more suitable strategic ally than the OAS to integrate the region and support the institutional articulation of all those who are part of this crusade".

For his part, the Secretary General of the OAS, Luis Almagro, highlighted: "The Framework Agreement that we sign today is another step in strengthening the fruitful relations between the OAS and CAF, an institution with which we share common values such as the defence of democracy, human rights and sustainable development". 

CAF and the OAS will work together to promote access to innovative financial instruments to support countries in meeting their environmental and climate commitments, through the development of climate and environmental policies and strategies, as well as institutional capacity building; support the structuring of programmes and projects with environmental and climate co-benefits and the mobilisation of international resources for green finance; and the development of better policies and help the private sector to adopt sustainable and resilient consumption and production models; among others.