By: Staff Writer
November 3, 2026
The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) said in a new report that the Latin America and Caribbean region would need up to $284 billion in investment in climate action commitments annually up to 2030.
Sustainable finance taxonomies act as classification systems that identify environmentally and socially sustainable economic activities, helping mobilize capital into green, social, sustainability, and sustainability-linked (GSSS) debt markets
The report, “Sustainable taxonomies and international debt markets,” said: “Mobilizing investment on the scale required to achieve climate and sustainable development objectives remains a major global challenge, particularly for emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs).
“At the twenty-ninth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP29) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Parties called for scaling up financing for climate action in developing countries from public and private sources to at least US$ 1.3 trillion annually by 2035 (UNFCCC, 2024).
“For Latin America and the Caribbean, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) estimates that meeting climate action commitments would require annual investment of between US$ 215 billion and US$ 284 billion through 2030, equivalent to 3.7%–4.9% of regional GDP (ECLAC, 2023).”
By 2025, eight national sustainable finance taxonomies had been published across Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). These frameworks show high convergence in environmental objectives, sector coverage, and eligibility criteria, while differing on social goals and transition activities.
At the multilateral level, increasing emphasis has also been placed on the interoperability of national taxonomies as a means of facilitating cross-border capital flows and reducing transaction costs while preserving national priorities. In the region, these efforts have included the development of the LAC Taxonomy Common Framework by the Working Group on Sustainable Finance Taxonomies in Latin America and the Caribbean (United Nations Environment Programme)
The report also said: “The growing interest in taxonomies has taken place alongside the expansion of the region’s international sustainable debt market. Despite this growth, many LAC issuers continue to face barriers to participating in green, social, sustainability and sustainability-linked (GSSS) bond markets.
These include limited knowledge and institutional capacity, difficulties in identifying and developing eligible sustainable portfolios, and the absence of standardized monitoring mechanisms.
Complex issuance procedures—including determining what qualifies as green or sustainable—as well as demanding reporting and impact-measurement requirements can create additional barriers