Participatory workshops in the regions of the country were completed to collect inputs that would enhance the development of Chile's national strategy for Capacity Development and Climate Empowerment.

Santiago de Chile, January 22.- On October 27, 2020, the participatory process for the development of Chile's Capacities Development and Climate Empowerment Strategy, which aims to respond to the commitment made by the country in updating its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC, 2020) as recommended in article 6 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Article 12 of the Paris Agreement - Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE), incorporating citizens into its design and formulation.

The process is led by the Ministry of the Environment of Chile with support from the EUROCLIMA+ programme - through the Fundación International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policies (FIIAPP)-, and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the React for the Climate  platform, and the Festival of Social Innovation in Chile (FIIS). 

This first phase began with a webinar on October 27, 2020 and national presentation meetings in December to learn what ACE is and how we can contribute jointly to reducing the impact of climate change, and with a series of meetings organised in all regions of the country, to work and deepen the elements of ACE needed to advance the development of the strategy.

This process of early citizen participation has sought to respond to four relevant dimensions that comprise climate empowerment action:

• Education and awareness-raising: what transformative actions do we need to help reduce climate impact.
• Research and science: what scientific knowledge must reach citizens so that they can take action in their environments.
• Skills training: what skills do we need to incorporate to make proposals that reduce environmental deterioration.
• Cooperation and exchange: how we can drive collaboration between governments and civil society so that they walk together towards a green future.

During the development of the workshops, initiatives and actions already underway have been shared in each of the regions and by the protagonists of these actions, which are in addition to the efforts driven by public institutions for the implementation of adaptation and mitigation measures for Climate Change. The participation has been broad and diverse with the presence of the technical representatives of the Environmental SEREMIs of each region (Regional Ministerial Secretariats), as well as the regional authority, academia, associations, cultural centres, teaching staff, indigenous communities, and civil society in general, among others.

Undoubtedly, one of the great lessons in these workshops was the importance of networking, the connection between regions, the articulation within the same region, and the search for collaborations to advance our initiatives and collective intelligence in the service of a common objective, capable of generating citizen empowerment that is increasingly aware and committed to climate change.

Chile's Climate Empowerment and Capabilities Strategy  continues making progress on collecting inputs for its creation and for this, it is continuing participatory workshops in March and will subsequently conduct a public consultation about the document resulting from this process.

About REACT FOR THE CLIMATE   

This is a citizen involvement project promoted by the European Union, the Ministry of the Environment and the International Festival of Social Innovation (FIIS). It aims to promote climate education and action, involving citizens with Chile's climate agenda and ambitions. Stressing the European Union's contribution to global sustainable development and its local support through the "European Union/Chile Alliance: An Alliance for the Future". See more at www.porelclima.cl

About EUROCLIMA+  

EUROCLIMA+ is an EU-funded programme to promote environmentally sustainable and climate-resilient development in 18 Latin American countries, particularly for the benefit of the most vulnerable populations. The Programme is implemented under the synergistic work of seven agencies: the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation for Development (AECID), the French Development Agency (AFD), the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), Expertise France (EF), the International and Ibero-American Foundation for Public Administration and Policy (FIIAPP), and UN Environment.