MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine President wants debt swaps for climate action before heading for Glasgow

“Without environmental multilateralism, we will all be running towards the abyss,” Fernández said

Argentine President Alberto Fernández, who is already in Glasgow for the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP26) after two days in Rome for the G20 Summit, is to propose a new goal of reducing emissions.

“In Glasgow, Argentina will take important positions, concerning increasing the commitment that had been set in Paris in 2016 on reducing emissions,” presidential spokeswoman Gabriela Cerruti announced.

The Argentine president is also expected to insist on “debt swaps for climate action,” which are key to “getting out of the crisis.”

While at Glasgow, Fernández is expected to hold a meeting with his Costa Rican colleague Carlos Alvarado Quesada and also with Guy Parmelin, head of the Swiss Confederation, Guy Parmelin.

But before leaving for Scotland, Fernández said in Rome that “environmental justice requires global financial justice” and that “without sustainable financing, there will be no sustainable development.”

He also insisted the resources for the implementation of the Paris Agreement are insufficient for the most disadvantaged countries, such as Argentina.

Fernández highlighted “it is the developed countries who have benefited the most from the intensive use of environmental resources during the last centuries,” which is why he called for “common but differentiated responsibilities.”

The Argentine head of state also highlighted “a cosmetic renovation,” was “not enough“ and asked to identify advances in clean technologies as global public goods and to achieve sustainable agreements on foreign debt, such as debt swaps for climate action, lower rates and longer payment terms.

In his speech Sunday, Fernández pointed out that ”the deterioration of the common home calls for a revision of its foundations. Without environmental multilateralism, we will all be running towards the abyss“ and quoted former President Juan Domingo Perón, when he said that ”we save the world together, or nobody saves it.“

President Fernández's speech was based on a joint declaration from the Argentine Ministry of Agriculture and private producers. According to that document, Argentina is a creditor of climate change and not a debtor. And although climate change is a global scourge, ”there are countries that have a historical and current responsibility for environmental degradation and it is those that must lead the mitigation process, as well as provide the economic means so that others adopt.”

According to a World Bank report from 2018, almost 60% of greenhouse gases were emitted by just five countries, while Argentina only accounted for 0.7%.