Alberto Fernández asked John Kerry to swap debt to the IMF for climate stocks

President Alberto Fernandez today raised the “need to think of innovative mechanisms to rebuild better», Among which he mentioned the revision of the terms and conditions of the debt contracted with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), during the opening of the Latin American Summit on climate change in which the special envoy for the climate participated. the United States, John Kerry; and the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, in collaboration with the leaders of the region.

In his opening speech, Fernández thanked the White House representative for the “Huge encouragement which means listening to the US government once again engaged on this issue that affects us all“So is climate change, and noted that” the clock of planetary destruction is not going to stop if we don’t act now.

Through a virtual event at the Bicentennial Museum, the “High Level Dialogue on Climate Action in the Americas” has the President of Argentina as its host. From the meeting, in which 21 countries from the region participate, Alberto Fernández ratified his support for “environmental multilateralism” and called for the debt contracted with the IMF to be negotiated for actions that reduce gas emissions from polluting industries.

“The lessons learned with vaccines in this pandemic must be to apply them to the pandemic we are already experiencing, that of climate change. The IMF’s issuance of special drawing rights (SDRs) must be applied to a major environmental solidarity pact, which mainly includes low- and middle-income countries, and which serves to lengthen debt payment deadlines and to reduce debt. ” application of the lower rates under the current health and ecological stress conditions», Declared the head of state.

In this fragment of his message, Alberto Fernández acknowledged that Argentina is “a country affected by toxic and predatory debt“, Although his vision applies” to the rest of the countries that have increased their exposure to debt from the pandemic. “

“The climatic and financial shocks resulting from a generalized debt crisis are not compatible for a better world ”, indicated the president. “Debt swaps for climate action, payment mechanisms for ecosystem services and environmental debt conceptWith the category of “environmental creditors” – which are the least developed countries – these are other keys to getting out of the crisis, “said the president.

“Regional development organizations must devote 50% of their resources to environmental actions, they must be capitalized. I am thinking of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Andean Confederation of Development (CAF), either by the leverage effect of the SDR to strengthen their solvency, or by the injection of capital, the essential boost of which must be given by the developed countries ”, he added.

In addition, he called for “identifying advances in clean technologies as global public goods, reinforcing the concept of “environmental multilateralism”, and asked “technology transfer agreements for ecological adaptation and a release of patents for these goods if necessary to promote adaptation to climate change ”.

From his point of view, Fernández said that the government has proposed “this summit to approach it from a Latin American point of view and oriented towards the debate in the face of the Glasgow meeting”, which will be held in Scotland between the end of October. and early November. In this context, he endorsed the country facing “climate and environmental action at the center” of its management since “environmental social justice is the new name for development in this region”.

“We must listen to the cry of our land and our people. It’s here and now. Together, we can be part of a generation that is trying to save our planet, ”said the Argentine president. “The importance of a policy is not given only by a declamation, but by the amount which is intended to develop it. I hope that solutions will emerge from this summit. Separated, we will fall, ”concluded Fernández.

John Kerry, in turn, questioned whether the previous U.S. government Donald trump to promote policies that stop global warming, has ratified that the President of the United States, Joe biden, I know is committed to increasing the environmental budget.

“If each of the home countries do not do enough, the rest of the world will be doomed. Nature cries out to us that we are not doing enough: we see floods, droughts, avalanches, melting glaciers. I asked the scientists what worried them the most and they told me that what is happening is irreversible. We need to make clear plans for what will be done because otherwise, between 2020 and 2030, global warming will continue to increase, ”he said.

“It is a mathematical question, we will not reach net zero emissions by 2050 if we do not move forward ”, Kerry summoned. “We work with the six largest banks in the United States and they are ready to invest over $ 4 trillion. We have the ability to put funding on the table. We must have actions, ”he said.

And he remarked: “Never before has the world demanded, demanded a global cooperative effort.

After comments by Fernández and Kerry, presentations by António Guterres, the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Amor Mottley; the presidents of Colombia, Iván Duque; from Costa Rica, Carlos Alvarado Quesada; from Panama, Laurentino Cortizo Cohen; from the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader; and from Paraguay, Mario Abdo Benítez; the President of COP25 and Minister of the Environment of Chile, Carolina Schmidt; and the president of COP26, Alok Sharma.

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