Innovation and Collaboration on Climate Change, High-Impact Entrepreneurs, LGBTQ+ Insights

Skeptics may wonder whether the world’s cash-strapped countries have the necessary incentives and capacity to do much when it comes to climate change. They should look to Latin America and the Caribbean.?

In an article penned for this month’s landmark Summit for a New Global Financing Pact in Paris, IDB President Ilan Goldfajn highlights initiatives in Barbados, Ecuador, Jamaica and Uruguay to better leverage existing resources and create innovative financial instruments to address climate and nature challenges.?

“Countries need help addressing the immediate and long-term consequences of climate change. Providing it will help regions such as Latin America and the Caribbean be part of the solution to our shared challenges, not just victims,” he writes.?

Read the article.?

New and promising financial tools to tackle climate change and its impacts – including debt-for-nature swaps, sustainability-linked bonds, disaster clauses and others that help redistribute risk and mobilize private resources – must now be rapidly standardized, replicated and expanded.??

At the Paris summit, President Goldfajn issued a call to the world’s multilateral development banks and other stakeholders to help do just that, through intensified collaboration. The IDB announced progress on this front, including a renewed commitment with the IMF, coordinated work with the World Bank, and participation in a Barbados-led coalition to develop resilient infrastructure and drive new investments.?

Read more.?

Argentina: $350 million to promote sustainable, resilient growth?

• Financing will enable actions to reduce emissions in key sectors, including energy and agriculture.?

Belize: Country certified malaria-free?

• Mosquito-borne illness eradicated after years of collaboration between government and Regional Malaria Elimination Initiative.?

Chile: $400 million to boost green hydrogen industry?

• Loan will support development of this high-potential sector, which is critical for decarbonizing the economy.?

IDB Invest: Region’s first private debt fund with a gender, diversity and inclusion focus?

• Fund aims to accelerate financial inclusion by applying a GDI lens to blended finance approach.??

Panama: Private financing to improve water supply?

• Credit line will fund execution of civil works to upgrade the tap water system for some 40,000 households.?

What is the potential of deep tech in Latin America and the Caribbean? How can startups raise capital in times of crisis? How is today’s regional innovation ecosystem addressing climate change and bridging social gaps – and how can we give it wings??

Visionary entrepreneurs and investors from 37 countries provided the answers to these and other compelling questions at the IDB Lab Forum, a flagship event held this year in Colombia.??

Which of the panels, pitches, fireside chats and launches would you like to relive???

Watch and learn more.?

From e-commerce to video games and agtech to fintech, the export of digital or knowledge-based services is a high-potential part of Latin America and the Caribbean’s foreign trade profile.?

Outsource2LAC, the region’s marquee event on the topic, brought more than 600 business and government leaders, experts, and trade specialists to Jamaica this year to explore the latest trends and seek out business opportunities.?

And those opportunities can translate into development gains, including job creation, technology transfer, regional integration, and improved sustainability and inclusion practices.?

Watch and learn more.?

High-quality data is critical for effective policymaking, but in our region, statistics about diverse groups are still often limited. That includes the LGBTQ+ population, where the knowledge gap extends to the size of communities and the extent of discrimination.?

Our GDLab reviewed key studies on this topic, including several recently funded by the IDB, presenting their main findings, identifying steps for further research, and extracting policy implications.??

To round out Pride Month, IDB Invest also published a guide for inclusion of LGBTQ+ persons in the workplace, which has been shown to yield significant economic and business benefits.?