Cooperating for a fair Green Transition
Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) are firmly committed to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and to preserving their rich biodiversity through the landmark Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework . At the political level, EU and LAC are together driving global initiatives, such as the negotiations for an international treaty to avoid plastic pollution, and holding a bi-regional and several bilateral dialogues on green issues. The EU has called for a ban on certain plastic products to combat pollution.
The EU is providing significant financial and technical assistance to support these efforts, through Global Gateway and different strategies and programmes such as:
EU-funded projects support the development of green, carbon-neutral hydrogen and value chains for the supply of critical raw materials needed for the energy transition.
Other EU tools and flagship programmes, such as Horizon Europe, Copernicus and Galileo are part of the EU’s work in the region, and contribute significantly to monitoring and adapting to climate change impacts in LAC.
EU-LAC digital alliance: a strategic framework for a human-centric digital transformation
In the EU-LAC Digital Alliance, the two regions work together for a democratic and inclusive digital transition that puts the human being at the centre and leaves no one behind. Digitisation can reduce environmental impacts and boost socio-economic development.
The transition is based on shared values for a democratic digitisation that protects personal data.
The Digital Alliance is formed by the EU 27 and 22 LAC states: Argentina, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uruguay.
The Alliance promotes connectivity, satellite data applications and services, innovation, skills, as well as the establishment of a modern regulatory digital policy framework.
The Global Gateway Investment Agenda (GGIA), a pillar of the EU-LAC partnership
As a major result of the third EU-CELAC Summit held in 2023, the EU-LAC Global Gateway Investment Agenda (GGIA) contributes to addressing investment gaps in line with the common priorities of the EU and LAC.
The GGIA promotes public policy objectives through investments with high environmental and social standards not only for a fair green transition and an inclusive digital transformation, but also for human development and health resilience and vaccines.
This agenda aims to mobilise €45 billion to provide financial support (grants, loans, guarantees and other financial instruments such as the European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus.). There is also policy dialogue and technical assistance for sustainable, transparent and high-quality investments in the mobility, digital, climate/energy, health and education sectors.
With an initial selection of more than 130 initiatives, including a number of Global Gateway flagship projects, the Global Gateway Investment Agenda seeks to create a partnership where the public sector in Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean links up with the private sector, to generate business investments that contribute to more prosperous and inclusive societies.
Gender equality, the creation of decent jobs, education and vocational training, social inclusion and indigenous communities are key horizontal priorities within GGIA, to make sure that development leaves no one behind. Follow the link to learn more about how EU and Latin America and the Caribbean step up action to promote inclusive and equal societies.
The GGIA is a Team Europe endeavour. It brings together the EU and its Member States, development financing institutions including the European Investment Bank (EIB), export credit agencies and other public sources of funding, working together in public-private partnerships with the private sector. Follow the link to learn more about Team Europe Initiatives.
