A USD157,500 pre-concept paper support grant to help mitigate climate shocks to Panama Canal trade flows was approved by the Multilateral Cooperation Center for Development Finance (MCDF) Governing Committee at its meeting in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on 24 September. The pre-concept paper support will be implemented by the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF).
The MCDF grant will finance early project preparation work on a Panama Canal “Green Corridor” Initiative for navigating the effects of diminishing rainfall and water levels across the 70km-long waterway connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. These trends are disrupting cargo shipments and forcing them to be transported through slower, more costly, and carbon-intensive land routes.
MCDF-supported activities will focus on the development of a comprehensive plan to promote the efficiency, resilience, and sustainability of shipping via the Panama Canal and parallel rail and road-based goods flows.
The plan will outline priorities for lowering greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening climate adaptation, and improving governance within the area’s logistics sector. The emphasis will be on decarbonization by promoting eco-fuels, optimizing truck capacity, and encouraging electric vehicle use.
This will set the stage for designing pilot investment projects in green logistics infrastructure and technology, covering needs such as fuel storage, transportation monitoring, and digital platforms, which could potentially be taken forward by CAF and MCDF.
Contact
David Hendrickson
Senior Communications Officer
Mobile: +86 185 0114 6758
david.hendrickson@themcdf.org