COP26: This is Argentina’s position at the climate summit

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Argentine government has placed climate and environmental protection measures at the center of its beliefs and has “committed” to the success of COP26 in Glasgow. The country is committed to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement.

Argentina submitted its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) in December 2020 with a higher level of ambition than in 2016: “Greenhouse gas emission reductions by 2030 will be 25.7% greater.”

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During the participation of Alberto Fernández in the Summit of Heads of State and Government convened by U.S. President Joe Biden in April 2021, a new increase in the ambition level was announced, which is 27.7% higher than that of 2016.

In this context, Argentina believes that “the mitigation, adaptation and financing pillars included in the Paris Agreement must have a balanced outcome.”

This was highlighted in particular during the High-Level Dialogue of the Americas on Climate Ambition organized last September, where it was pointed out that “mitigation efforts need a context that enables development and takes into account the vulnerabilities and different capacities of developing countries.”

It also argues that “developing countries’ efforts must be accompanied by greater ambition and commitment in the provision and mobilization of financial resources by developed countries to raise our common level of ambition.”

THE MAIN POINTS OF ARGENTINA’S POSITION

• Mobilization of concessional and non-reimbursable funds channeled through multilateral and bilateral banks, with flexible and transparent procedures;
• Payments for ecosystem services;
• Swapping debt for climate action;
• Reallocation of SDRs without discrimination against middle-income countries to improve their environment;
• Redesigning the analyses carried out by risk rating agencies so as not to distort the reality in our countries;
• Taking into account the phenomenon of irresponsible over-indebtedness, which already occurred before the pandemic and was exacerbated by the virus, with greater flexibility in terms, interest rates, and conditions;
• The need to work on a standard definition and accounting methodology for climate finance to make progress toward achieving the goals of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement;
• A national climate change adaptation and mitigation plan and long-term strategy for low-emission and resilient development, designed to shape and communicate the country’s successive contributions and lay the foundation for local climate policy.