Every year the world comes to a standstill to attend COP meetings and share knowledge and experiences in climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts. But what is COP and why is it so important? COP is the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This year marks the COP 24 in Katowice, Poland from December 3rd to 14th. The COP, which is the most important international cooperation instrument for dealing with climate change, is where the decisions of the Convention are made. The parties discussed the implementation plan of the Paris Agreement to achieve global warming at 1.5 ° C by 2050.
And why in Poland? Every year the COP is celebrated in a different country. This year Poland will have the opportunity to show its progress made in reducing emissions. Poland has chaired four times over the negotiations of the Climate Convention and it is the host of COP for the third time. This country reduced its CO2 emissions by 32%, far exceeding the 6% requirement imposed by the Kyoto Protocol while presenting a constant economic growth during this same period.
COP24 is a historic meeting for government representatives to ensure that the Paris Agreement is fully complied with and that the goals and objectives presented in it are achieved by all. If all parties do not work together, it will not be possible to maintain the global temperature rise below 1.5 °C nor will the goal of adaptation to climate change will be achieved. COP24 is the opportunity for countries to commit once again, in the eyes of the world, to meet their goals and support others to achieve their goals.
At the IDB, we understand that Latin America and the Caribbean are especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change and that their economies are seriously threatened by damage to infrastructure, changes in crop and harvest cycles, and human losses caused by natural disasters made worse by climate change. Therefore, in 2016 we set the goal of increasing our funding for climate change by 30% by the end of 2020. Only between 2017 and 2018 we reached 27%.
We also present the Sustainable Infrastructure Framework with which we hope to support our member countries to meet the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN and the Paris Agreement. In addition, in partnership with the United Kingdom, we created the Sustainable Infrastructure Program (UKSIP) that supports the governments of Brazil, Colombia, Peru, and Mexico to implement their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). For this, we launched NDC Invest, a platform to support the implementation of NDCs that currently operates in 17 countries.
In the Caribbean, we also work every day to support countries to increase their resilience in the face of climate change. That is why we are working with different countries in the region through our Sustainable Islands Platform that promotes economic growth and climate-resilient private capital investments.
We are convinced that, if we all work together, the signatory countries of the Agreement, the multilateral development banks, the national development banks, the civil society organizations, and the citizens, we will be able to achieve a world where the temperature does not increase above 1.5 °C and where future generations have a chance in the world. For this, we are organizing thirteen events within the framework of the COP24, so that Latin America and the Caribbean can once again demonstrate its leadership on climate change issues. If you are going to participate in the conference, do not hesitate to register for our events. Join us!
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