International financing for climate change in Latin America and the Caribbean

Staying within the 1.5°C temperature increase limit relative to the pre-industrial period, considered the point at which the climate would move out of the range that has been considered normal over the last hundreds of thousands of years and increases its unpredictability, requires actions in different areas that encompass economic models, technological developments and lifestyles. It entails achieving net zero CO2 emissions worldwide by 2050 and drastic reductions in emissions of other greenhouse gases (GHG), especially methane. In the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication, it includes systems transitions that can be enabled by increased investments in adaptation and mitigation, by policy instruments, by accelerating technological innovation, and by behavioral changes, especially consumption (IPCC, 2018). This implies considering mitigation pathways that include reducing energy demand, decarbonizing electricity and other energy, electrifying energy, significantly reducing agricultural emissions, and promoting forms of carbon removal through soil storage techniques or sequestration in geological reservoirs. This document accounts for the region's performance over the period 2013 to 2020. It describes the resources mobilized for climate purposes, the main actors involved and the advances in accounting methods. It is hoped that this publication will stimulate discussion and serve as a precedent for the region to take consistent steps in the fight against climate change and promote actions to adapt to the phenomenon.