COP26: Bolivia rejects the “commodification of Mother Earth”

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Bolivia’s Vice Minister of Environment, Magin Herrera López, stated this Tuesday (2) in an interview that his government rejects the idea of green trading spaces, after other countries in the region proposed to exchange foreign debt for ecological projects during the 26th edition of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), in Glasgow (Scotland).

This refusal was expressed by President Luis Arce himself during the international summit: “Our president was specific in pointing out that green areas should not be subject to commercialization, as in other countries,” said the vice-minister.

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In this regard, he commented: “They commercialize it. We give you more green spaces, and in exchange for that, you finance projects. In other words, one creates green areas so that the other country can continue producing machinery and greenhouse effect equipment in the quantities it wants.”

From the United Kingdom, Herrera López stressed that “Mother Earth should not be commercialized.” And he added: “If we go into that business, of course, pollution will go up. Bolivia is not with that position.” Regarding this position, the official affirmed that “many countries are joining in”.

In any case, the interviewee remarked that the poor communities that did preserve the environment but still suffer from global pollution should be compensated. Faced with this situation, he said that it should be advocated that access to financing “should not be bureaucratic”, seeking to make the attention “more effective”.

THE FLIP SIDE OF ARGENTINA’S PROPOSAL

Bolivia’s position at COP26 comes after Argentina raised in various forums and multilateral talks the need to cancel the foreign debt or reduce interest in exchange for projects that benefit the environment.

This idea, which gained support in the previous weeks and is well received by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), was also expressed in Glasgow.

In line with this idea, the President of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, announced during COP26 the creation of a new marine reserve next to the Galapagos Islands, but warned that in order to conserve the area, the Latin American country’s financial commitments would have to be eased.