Global Network Partner CEMDES and partners launch the Ecuador Carbon Platform

Quito, Ecuador – 30 March 2023:  Key actors from the business and productive sectors, academia, and service companies convened with WBCSD’s Global Network partner in Ecuador, CEMDES, to launch the Ecuador Carbon Platform. The objective is to promote comprehensive climate action that facilitates investments and generates employment.  

Ecuador is making progress towards the re-engagement of its domestic private sector to the global carbon market, including the forestry and industry sectors, considering its central role in mobilizing finance that could otherwise not be mobilized, and in channeling funds to projects with a positive environmental impact. This initiative is based on the principle that the Carbon Bond Market represents a mechanism for the private sector to derive financial funds for climate change mitigation, the protection of nature and the support of sustainable practices at a time when financing for these causes is most needed today. 

The objective of the Carbon Platform of Ecuador is to promote a high-integrity Carbon Market reliable and aligned with the Net Zero goals. Through joint work with civil society, the private sector, indigenous peoples and local communities, and the government, the Ecuador Carbon Platform intends to contribute to a better understanding of the functioning of these mechanisms, while providing inputs for the development of a public policy consistent with the goal of ecological transition and decarbonization of the country.  

The founding members of the Platform include CEMDES, Asociación Ecuatoriana de Productores de Teca y Maderas Tropicales (ASOTECA), Asociación Ecuatoriana de la Industria Forestal y de la Madera (AIMA), the Center for the Development of Public Policies of the Polytechnic School of the Litoral (ESPOL), RAINFOREST ECUADOR, ESA, among other relevant actors in the value chain that have a high potential for job creation and attracting international investment.  

During the virtual launch event, Carlos Córdova, Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean of the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA), shared the opportunities of the growing trend of the global market and the potential of the region. Representatives of strategic partners such as Richard Kiy, President of the Institute of the Americas, and Francisco Donoso, Executive Director of ASOCARBONO Colombia, expressed their willingness to accompany the efforts of the Platform to contribute to the decarbonization goal of Ecuador. 

For more information, please contact Inés Manzano, Chairperson of the Board of CEMDES at cemdes@cemdes.org  

About CEMDES: 

CEMDES is WBCSD’s Global Network partner in Ecuador. The non-profit, non-governmental organization offers a platform for companies to explore sustainable development, share knowledge, experiences, best practices, and tools, and provides services to incorporate sustainability, climate change, inclusive business, circular economy, identification of business solutions and the SDGs, among others, into business strategy. The objective of CEMDES is to support and accelerate our members’ plan to transform the business model into a resilient and competitive one, capable of adapting and maximizing the opportunities of the transition to a planet with zero emissions, healthy ecosystems and equality.