This month, two workshops for cities from Latin America and the Caribbean on how to tackle climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions took place in Lima, Peru and San José, Costa Rica. The workshops were organised within the framework of the International Urban Cooperation programme for Latin America and the Caribbean. Representatives from signatory cities of the Global Compact of Mayors for Climate and Energy in Latin America (GCoM-LAC) as well as from administrations from Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru attended the event.
During the workshops participants learned about tools and methodologies to develop Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans (SECAPs) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. By developing these SECAPs, signatory cities will be prepared to align their climate and energy policies with so-called National Determined Contributions (NDCs) agreed upon in the Paris Agreement.
The workshops took place in Lima, Peru from 20 to 23 August and San José, Costa Rica from 27 to 30 August and were organised in collaboration with the EU-funded programme EUROCLIMA+. Collaboration between the International Urban Cooperation (IUC) programme and EUROCLIMA+ is expected to develop ways to help cities to meet the commitments of the Paris Agreement. Both events received additional support from the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission and regional partners.
The Ambassador of the European Union in Peru, Diego Mellado, and the Director of Climate Change of the Peruvian Ministry of Environment, Rosa Morales, opened the workshop in Lima. The Ambassador of the European Union in Costa Rica, Pelayo Castro, stressed the need for local actors join the fight against climate change. Likewise, when opening the workshop in Lima, Ambassador Mellado stressed: “We are convinced that for the Paris Agreement to be effective every actor in society needs to commit to it: countries, regions, cities and local administration as well as civil society and the private sector.”
Background
The IUC programme is a multi-stakeholder initiative linking EU businesses and city decision-makers and forging stronger ties between cities and regions across the EU and third countries on similar challenges. The programme revolves around three main strands of action: city-to-city cooperation on urban development, sub-national action under the Global Covenant of Mayors initiative and the inter-regional cooperation on innovation for local and regional development. The programme is funded through the EU's Partnership Instrument with more than €21 million.
About 81% of Latin America’s population resides in cities, representing 70% of the total global emissions related to energy. As a response, the IUC has supported the establishment of the Global Compact of Mayors for Climate and Energy (GCoM) regional chapter in the region since its inception in 2017.
For more information
Details
- Publication date
- 31 August 2018
- Author
- Service for Foreign Policy Instruments