Building on the Copenhagen Accord, the United Nations Secretary’s High-Level Advisory Group on Climate Change Finance (AGF) was set up in February 2010 to identify how industrialised countries could mobilise US$100 billion of resources per annum by 2020, to support climate-resilient development in the developing world. The Group consisted of 21 members, from the public and private sectors and from the developed and developing worlds. It was co-chaired by the Meles Zenawi, Prime Minister of Ethiopia, and Jens Stoltenberg, Prime Minister of Norway. Working through most of 2010, it has analysed a wide range of options for raising this money from both public and private sources.

This Special Issue brief outlines the implications of AGF report recommendations for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Key messages include:

• The AGF report recognises the crucial role that the private sector can play in fostering low-carbon development. For Latin America, this requires rapid progress on establishing a framework for reducing emissions from deforestation and land-use change.
• The region should build on the recommendation that the public sector must catalyse private investment and achieve ‘transformational investments’.
• The report emphasises the need to raise revenues in a way that provides incentives for developed countries to reduce their emissions. This is welcome, but introduces risks concerning the reliability of revenues. These concerns can be relieved by robust, credible commitments to reduce emissions by developed countries.
• There is concern that some of the revenue sources identified by the AGF could impede the LAC region’s development. However, compensation arrangements can be devised.
• The region will want to ensure that its investment requirements, especially for adaptation, are not overlooked.