CAF will invest 1,250 million dollars to preserve the oceans of Latin America and the Caribbean

CAF —development bank of Latin America— will announce this Monday in Lisbon an investment of 1,250 million dollars that it will allocate over the next five years to projects that contribute to preserving, revitalizing and promoting the marine and coastal ecosystems of Latin America and the Caribbean.

"With these resources we will implement innovative solutions that help mitigate the effects of global warming, we will promote the preservation of marine ecosystems and we will contribute to improving the living conditions of the millions of Latin Americans who depend on the seas," said Sergio Díaz-Granados, president executive of the multilateral organization.

The announcement coincides with the celebration of the United Nations Conference on the Oceans, which is being held this week in Lisbon and which will bring together representatives of governments, companies, international organizations, scientific institutions and NGOs in search of solutions for the conservation of the seas. .

Organized jointly by Portugal and Kenya, the objective of the summit is to find solutions that allow the 17 Sustainable Development Goals to be achieved before 2030. Among the problems that affect the planet's oceans are climate change, pollution and fishing excessive.

The experts participating in the meeting plan to find solutions to preserve marine life.

In the case of the CAF fund, the resources will be used, among other things, to "design and implement projects that promote the blue economy, with emphasis on the restoration of marine and coastal environments, blue carbon, renewable marine energy, fishing and aquaculture." sustainable, integrated coastal management, nature-based solutions, payment for ecosystem services, ecotourism and improved management of marine protected areas”, according to the agency in a statement.

Latin America and the Caribbean is one of the areas with the greatest marine diversity.

With 27% of its population living in coastal areas, the subcontinent has 18% of the planet's marine ecoregions (47 of the 258 that exist), more than any other in the world, according to data from the Economic Commission for America Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

The region also has the Mesoamerican Reef System (SAM), the second largest barrier reef in the world.

However, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has warned that Caribbean fish stocks are the weakest in the world, with 55% of commercial fish stocks overexploited or depleted.

In addition, the region's marine ecosystems "show a reduction in the abundance, density and cover of coral and fish stock, changes in plankton and loss of wetlands with vegetation," warns CAF in the statement announcing the investment. .

Among the projects that it intends to implement with the announced fund is an agreement for the protection of the Marine Corridor of the Eastern Tropical Pacific (CMAR), a region shared by Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Panama that generates 3,000 million dollars per year derived mainly from fishing, tourism and maritime transport.

The governments of the four countries, as well as civil society organizations and NGOs, will participate in the initiative, to which one million dollars will be allocated.

"The consequences of the poor health of the oceans threaten global food security, the sustainability of the planet and the production and commercial systems themselves," warns the organization.

"For this reason, it is essential that we promote new international consensus to build more resilient and diversified economies, generate new jobs and prepare the region for the challenges associated with economic recovery in a context of global warming and weakened coastal and marine ecosystems."

At the Summit of the Americas held at the beginning of June in Los Angeles, nine countries of the region (Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, the United States, Mexico, Panama and Peru) signed the coalition "Americas for the Protection of the Ocean” with which they seek to work together to protect or conserve at least 30% of the Pacific Ocean by 2030, and face three major crises: climate change, biodiversity loss and ocean deterioration.

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