RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On Wednesday, the presidents of Costa Rica, Rodrigo Chaves-Robles; Colombia, Iván Duque; and Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, stressed that their countries’ commitment to the ecological transition and environmental protection is an irreversible process full of opportunities.
The three heads of state intervened with video messages during the Economic Forum on Latin America and the Caribbean organized by the French government, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
In his speech, Chaves-Robles focused part of his message on the scourge of deforestation affecting the region.
He explained that in Costa Rica, the forest area has increased and represented 61% of the country’s surface in 2021. Latin America is home to 40% of the world’s deforestation hotspots.
Chaves-Robles considered that the ecological transition and care for the environment in the region are also fundamental to preserving freshwater reserves in the world, taking into account that “Latin America accounts for 31%” of the total.
On the South American side, the outgoing president of Colombia, Iván Duque, spoke, saying that “economic recovery must be an opportunity to make positive investments for nature and the climate”.
The Colombian leader mentioned his country as an example, where 30% of its territory has been protected, and the creation of sustainable companies has been promoted.
“We must energize economies, create jobs, advance equity while conserving our natural capital and make the required effort to address climate change,” he said.
For Ecuador, President Lasso highlighted his government’s creation of the Hermandad marine reserve in the Galapagos, protecting an additional 60,000 square kilometers of the Pacific Ocean.
This “contributes to the global protection of marine ecosystems,” said the Ecuadorian head of state in a video, who recalled his country’s commitment to multilateralism.
Two ministers, Mario Marcel of Chile and José Manuel Restrepo of Colombia, both present at the OECD headquarters in Paris, spoke about the region’s public finances challenges.
Marcel, a member of the new government of the leftist Gabriel Boric, regretted that until recently, environment and growth were seen “as opposing forces”. He assured that those who invest in ecological transition would have “a competitive advantage”.
For the Finance Minister, the environment has “a crucial importance” in the constituent process underway in Chile.
“As far as I know, this will be the first Constitution giving rights to nature. That is a great challenge for politicians, law experts, to know how to enforce those rights.”
The Chilean minister cited water as the “most delicate” issue because the worst drought his country has suffered in more than 20 years has aggravated conflicts over this resource.
His Colombian counterpart, Restrepo, prioritized “growing more and more to create more jobs”.
The minister said that the covid crisis has also “represented opportunities” to make further progress in the energy transition.
At the forum’s opening, the Secretary-General of the OECD, the Australian Mathias Cormann, issued a serious warning: “Of the 50 countries most affected by climate change, a dozen” is in Latin America.
At the same time, Cormann recalled the region’s potential because of its “enormous natural capital and extraordinary economic and human potential”. He recalled, for example, that the vast area of the Amazon has a fundamental role in climate action.
The president of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Mauricio Claver-Carone, chose to highlight Latin America’s strengths in the context of a war in the West.
“We see that (Latin America) is a region with peace, relative tranquility, and hopefully prosperity,” said the executive, who estimated that 15 million new jobs could be generated in the region thanks to the energy transition.
With information from EFE