Mexico City.- In Latin America and the Caribbean, a region of which Mexico is a part, the energy transition will not be possible without the participation of the private initiative, since the resources of the public sector are insufficient, experts considered.
“We can no longer leave behind the fact that the private sector has to participate, there are not enough resources in the public sector to get this agenda going,” said Alberto Torres, general director and head of the Public Sector Group for Latin America at Citi.
He pointed out that it is necessary to consider that it is more viable for the private sector to finance some green projects to release public resources that can be directed to others with a social focus.
Progress towards a green energy transition must be in two parallel channels, where one of them is the private sector pushing the green agenda with new technologies and innovative financing schemes, he emphasized.
However, in this process the role of governments is key to setting the rules of the game with a long-term horizon, he asserted during his participation in the panel “Transition to green energy in Latin America and the Caribbean” of the Annual Meeting of the Boards of Governors of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and IDB Invest 2023.
Félix Hernández-Shaw, director of Cooperation with Latin America and the Caribbean, of the European Commission, agreed that a public-private combination is essential in this transition.
“Because the resources, the technologies, the research are on the private side, that’s where the changes are being promoted,” he commented during his speech on the panel.
However, he pointed out that at the same time it is the governments’ job that this change includes everyone and that it is aimed not only at profitability, but also at social coverage.
Torres added that in Latin America and the Caribbean it is also necessary to unify criteria in the narrative on the transition to green energy.
“The role of multinationals, such as the IDB, naturally, can play a key role in aligning objectives where this green transition is, but that it is fair and sustainable,” he said.
