18 March 2012: The German Development Bank (KfW) has granted the Latin American Development Bank (CAF) a US$195 million line of credit for projects contributing to climate change mitigation.

Eligible projects include those related to renewable energy generation, energy efficiency, environmental protection in industry, mobility and energy efficient transport, ecological development in urban centers, integrated water resources management, and sustainable management of forest resources. The funds are part of the €303 million Climate Change Program agreed between CAF, KfW and the European Commission to benefit CAF’s Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) shareholder countries.

The line of credit was announced in Montevideo, Uruguay. At the signing ceremony, the two banks discussed other planned joint sustainable development projects, including a line of credit for water treatment and solid waste management, financing and non-reimbursable technical cooperation regarding increasing forest carbon reserves in the Amazon, co-financing for energy efficiency and renewable energy generation projects, and a €6.5 million facility from the European Commission’s Latin American Investment Facility (LAIF) to implement a guarantee schemed for CAF-financed projects involving carbon emission reductions.

The CAF shareholder countries in LAC are Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay and Venezuela. [CAF Press Release]