In June 2024, a member of the Bolivian delegation to the UNFCCC asked me to offer policy advisory support to the Bolivian government in advance of COP29 in Baku. To this end, I wrote and submitted the following policy position paper.
Executive Summary
This position paper explores opportunities for mission-led climate finance, the green transition, and sustainable development for Bolivia at the UNFCCC. Focusing on the domestic sector that has the most potential for gain – deforestation and agriculture – this paper provides a pragmatic overview of the needs, challenges, and opportunities in climate finance to support a sustainable transition in the agricultural sector in Bolivia. It finds that although the landscape of climate finance is challenging for Bolivia and countries like it, there are important opportunities available with novel innovations taking place that can support a shift away from environmentally damaging and inefficient industrial agricultural practices, towards the most sustainable and productive practices, utilizing principles of agroforestry and agroecology. Although such a transition can take several years, this is an important means by which Bolivia could meet multiple sustainability and development goals simultaneously: reducing GHG emissions by better protecting land, natural environment, and forests, and better supporting sustainable development by diversifying and increasing productivity an important economic sector, agriculture.