Colombia. The national government formalized the donation agreement with the World Bank for 20 million dollars, which was signed in recent days by the President of the Republic Juan Manuel Santos and the manager of the World Bank for Colombia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Issam Abousleiman.
Colombia was chosen by the international organization, along with three other countries: Zambia, Ethiopia and Indonesia, to receive this financing that will mitigate the effects of climate change by promoting the reduction of Greenhouse Gas emissions, which is the fundamental objective assumed at the Paris Summit.
In his speech, the Head of State indicated that, in addition, the program is focused on sustainable territorial planning and sustainable low-carbon production systems. "The program will be developed under the scheme of technical assistance and payment for results. The intervention will be concentrated mainly in the Orinoquia area," the president added.
For his part, the World Bank manager for Colombia stressed that this donation is granted thanks to the contributions of countries such as Germany, Norway, the United Kingdom, the United States and for the good management of Colombia at a global level "in terms of the environment, climate change and biodiversity. Which has contributed a lot to the global agenda and also to the domestic agenda at the national level."
In addition to the $20 million in technical cooperation grants, the project includes an additional $60 million in payment for results.
For the Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, Luis Gilberto Murillo, this initiative, which is called Sustainable Forest Landscapes, is a project that allows the country to respond to the environmental challenges we have in the Colombian Orinoquía.
"We are also covered by an additional component of the Amazon Vision initiative, in which we have 100 million dollars for payments for results in reducing deforestation and Greenhouse Gas emissions due to land use change in the Orinoquía. Now we have a donation of 20 million dollars, for projects related to livestock and sustainable agriculture, reforestation, which fit perfectly within our strategy of mitigation and adaptation to climate change and control of deforestation, "said Murillo.
The Head of this portfolio welcomed the fact that the World Bank recognized Colombia's efforts in environmental matters, which today place it as a standard-bearer country on these issues within the international agenda.
The implementation of the Sustainable Forest Landscapes of the Orinoquia initiative will be in charge of the Ministries of Agriculture and Environment, DNP and IDEAM; with these partners, joint action will be taken to reduce pressure on forests and combat deforestation.
This alliance will also be joined by other national and local entities, the private sector, the international community and multilateral banking.
