During the last COP26 in Glasgow (UK), EUROCLIMA+ invoked Article 12 of the Paris Agreement to claim the importance of Climate Empowerment Action in tackling climate change.
Facing the tremendous challenge that this crisis poses to humanity requires collective ownership and the coordinated participation of all actors in global society, and it is here that ACE acts as a lever for change, opening a path towards more sustainable and just societies.
Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE) is the official name for Article 6 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, reflected in Article 12 of the Paris Agreement. ACE has six interdependent and interrelated elements: education, training, public awareness, public participation, public access to information and international cooperation. All play a critical role in accelerating adaptation and mitigation action on climate change.
In Latin America, the awareness of the need to advance in education, awareness, participation and training to involve citizens in the transformation that our societies need is clear. In fact, ACE has already been included as part of the NDCs of some countries in the region (Chile, Costa Rica, Colombia, Argentina, Peru and Panama) as a framework to promote ACE as part of the response to climate challenges. ACE is an integrative and strategic tool to move forward from different areas, involving society as a whole in climate commitments.
Empowering for Climate Action: visions and lessons learned
If society doesn't empower itself, doesn't own it and doesn't push for every government that comes along to make it happen, it's very difficult for us to make it happen. That's where we need a National ACE Strategy where we tell all sectors of society that they have to get involved to make things happen.
Stephanie Altamirano · MINAE Costa Rica
This was the focus of the event Empowering for Climate Action: visions and lessons learned, a meeting that allowed to know and discuss why there is an ACE momentum at the regional level in Latin America and what have been the triggers, and to understand how ACE can be a lever for the involvement and activation of different actors of society in the implementation of climate challenges, as well as to what extent ACE is being recognised and incorporated in NDCs or LTS of the countries.
The event was structured in two parts. The first block addressed the experiences of some countries in the region, which served to analyse the challenges currently facing the ACE agenda in Latin America from the perspective of development strategies. The second part analysed the regional perspective from institutions such as ECLAC and UNESCO.
The speakers in the discussion, moderated by Elena Oliveros (FIIAPP) presented their country experiences in the process of building the first National Strategies on ACE in Latin America. We had Jessica Ulloa (Ministry of Environment of Chile), Belén Reyes (Ministry of Environment of Uruguay), Jairo Neftali Cárdenas (Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of Colombia), Tamara Acosta (Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of Argentina) and Stephanie Altamirano (Ministry of Environment and Energy of Costa Rica).
Christian Bravo, representative of UNESCO’s Regional Bureau for Education in Latin America and the Caribbean, presented the status of the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) agenda in the context of the major transformations underway driven by the climate challenge.
Finally, Marina Casas from ECLAC presented the fundamental features of the Escazú Agreement and drew attention to the importance of the regional thrust of the ACE agenda through spaces such as peer-to-peer exchanges and the promotion of regional treaties such as Escazú.
The meeting highlighted the importance of networking, connecting experiences and proposals to advance clear and innovative methodologies to articulate Climate Empowerment Action with climate change goals.
Engaging young people in the climate agenda: Voices from Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean
We always talk about young people from the age of 14, and I am 12 years old. We must also include the voices of younger people who have something to say.
Francisco Manzanares
The EUROCLIMA+ pavilion also had space for young people. The meeting Youth participation in the climate agenda: Voices from Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean allowed the presentation of some experiences from both regions.
Francisco Vera Manzanares, a 12-year-old activist from Colombia, recounted his experiences at the Guardianes por la vida Foundation, an environmental organisation that aims to give children a voice. Currently working in the Latin American region in countries such as: Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Chile, Brazil and Venezuela, the organisation is dedicated to disseminating ideas and values that prioritise climate action and sustainability.
Daniela Miranda and Marco Yáñez Marín, young negotiators of the Chilean delegation at COP26, highlighted the opportunity to bring the voice of young people to this global framework of climate decisions, the experience of young people pushing for more ambition in European policies.
Finally, Merel Schaap presented the work they are doing at We are Tomorrow Global Partnership, an international organisation that deals with youth empowerment to consolidate and strengthen cross-border youth networks, and co-creates constructive national climate action plans to influence decision-makers. Merel recounted the main actions underway and the impact they are making in discussions with country governments.
The session was moderated by Guillermo Dascal (EUROCLIMA+) and introduced by Horst Pilger, Head of Sector at the European Commission - DG INTPA - who presented how the European Union is working with partner country governments to include youth empowerment and participation in their climate governance processes.
Education and joint experiences for community empowerment
On another front, we saw how, through training, workshops with communities and the exchange of experiences, vulnerable populations are given new tools to increase their resilience in the face of climate change. This was evidenced by the three cases presented in the discussion ‘The social inclusion of indigenous and rural communities for the success of public policies for adaptation to climate change’, from the Urban Water and Risk Management sectors of EUROCLIMA+.
Engaging the community not only built trust, as was the case in the Water for Abancay project, in which the Reward for Ecosystem Services Mechanisms built bridges and trust between the urban community of Abancay, Peru, and rural dwellers, but also made the project participants central actors in the fight against climate change.
The community is a strategic partner in building urban and rural resilience where long-term agreements are reached.
Marco Sotomayor, of Helvetas Peru, project ally.
This has allowed, Sotomayor summarised, the farming community to internalise very well the costs and benefits for their community participation.
For its part, the Pachayatiña Pachayachay, project of the Risk Management sector gives a central role to knowledge management, with the added value of putting it at the service of the communities, and involving them in this process: "Bringing local knowledge closer has given us great results, it is the communities and producers who have to manage this information for their agricultural production", summarised Grover Mamani, of Helvetas Bolivia.
We join with farming communities in climate workshops
where we articulate our ancestral knowledge and scientific knowledge,
and we are successful in preventing and preparing for climate variability
that is affecting the communities.Isabel Gómez, Pachayatiña Pachayachay project.
This is a tool similar to the one implemented by the Humboldt Centre Nicaragua, which has provided some tools to the community to measure climate variability and weather conditions in the region in order to generate risk warnings and recommendations for agricultural production. The participants have discovered measurement mechanisms such as rain gauges - which allow them to measure the amount of water that falls when it rains - and hygrothermometers - through which they measure the temperature - tools that they use for their own benefit and that of the community.
These three initiatives demonstrate the fundamental importance of making access to information, participation and awareness-raising available to people as a way of addressing climate change in Latin America.
Increasing the preparedness and resilience of farming communities
to climate change threats and risks are key activities
in the work of EUROCLIMA+.Juan Enrique García · AECID
For the Pachayatiña Pachayachay project, social inclusion based on the principle of "leaving no one behind" as defined in the 2030 Agenda, is a premise that incorporates gender and intercultural approaches to reduce existing gaps in risk management processes in both the Bolivian and Peruvian highlands. By respecting socio-cultural belonging, as well as the ancestral knowledge and practices of indigenous women (Aymara and Quechua) in relation to weather and climate, gaps that limit social cohesion are reduced.
Nature-based solutions for urban areas in Latin America
International agreements, such as those negotiated at COP26, can only achieve the expected successful transformation if they are implemented at every scale. This is what the event Nature-based solutions and food security aimed to highlight, underlining the importance of strengthening the connection between climate negotiations at the global level and the impact generated in local communities.
Cities are a climate action frontline capable of generating great opportunities for the integration of natural capital into the built environment. The participation of local governments in international negotiations, and the impact generated by citizens' actions, are fundamental to building climate resilience.
Marta Moneo, Coordinator of Adaptation for UNEP.
Experts addressed the live connection between international negotiations and local level vision and action to build resilience in Latin American cities through nature-based solutions (NbS).
The effects of climate change will exacerbate stress on urban and peri-urban ecosystems and the valuable services they provide that buffer the impacts of extreme weather events for cities, both directly (e.g. temperature control through green corridors) and indirectly (e.g. water flow control through watershed management).
Speakers in this session analysed the role of local governments and citizens as key actors against this challenge and how their participation in international negotiations and in the design of policies and regulations is increasingly important to achieving a successful transformation.
During the event, representatives of the United Nations Environment Programme presented the experience of the CityAdapt Project, which harnesses the benefits of nature-based solutions to reduce the impacts of climate change in San Salvador, El Salvador and Xalapa, Mexico.
About EUROCLIMA+
EUROCLIMA+ is a programme funded by the European Union and co-financed by the German federal government through the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), as well as by the governments of France and Spain through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation.
The Programme's mission is to reduce the impact of climate change and its effects in 18 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, promoting mitigation, adaptation, resilience and climate investment. It is implemented according to the "Spirit of Team Europe" under the synergistic work of seven agencies: the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), the French Development Agency (AFD), the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Expertise France (EF), the International and Ibero-America Foundation for Administration and Public Policy (FIIAPP), the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) GmbH, and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).