Climate Policy Should Not Be Ruled By Profit Seeking: Arce

Amid the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP26) held in Glasgow on Tuesday, Bolivia’s President Luis Arce asked the international community to promote the fight against climate change through financing mechanisms not ruled by the usual profit-seeking banking practices.

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“Mother Earth protection should not be ruled by pro-market policies, which impede to establish sustainable strategies,” Arce stated and argued that the current industrial model has significantly increased pollution and CO2 greenhouse gases emissions.

In the COP21 carried out in 2015, rich countries pledged to donate US$100 billion yearly from 2020 to 2025 so that developing countries install the necessary infrastructure to obtain energy from natural sources and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), however, developed countries only donated US$79.6 billion to developing nations in 2020 and their financing is not expected to increase before 2023.

"Developed countries are simply gaining time without any sense of responsibility to humandkind and nature. If these nations do not immediately adopt positive strategies for climate change, they will lose all their credibility," Arce condemned.

"The responsibilities of caring for the environment are common but differentiated," he insisted, arguing that developing countries will only be able to fight climate change if they receive financial resources. 

Although Bolivia’s CO2 emissions are minimal, the Arce administration is developing a national plan to transit to boost renewable energies. "We do not have much responsibility for global warming, but we still make efforts to counteract this situation," he concluded.