More than 40 people from 18 countries gathered in Buenos Aires to share experiences on ACE policies, and for the face-to-face meeting of the Community for Practical Learning on Action for Climate Empowerment.

Buenos Aires, 10 October 2022 - On 4, 5 and 6 October,  the first Regional Meeting on Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE) took place in Buenos Aires (Argentina), which included among its activities, a face-to-face session of the Community for Practical Learning (CAP) on ACE, which since 2021 is coordinated by the International and Ibero-America Foundation for Public Administration and Policy, in collaboration with the UNESCO Regional Office in Latin America.

During these days it has been possible to show all the progress made by the countries of the region with the formulation of the National Strategies for ACE, experiences have been shared in the field that promote elements of ACE (education, training, awareness, public participation, access to information, and international cooperation) of all participating countries, as well as collaborative work and exchange dynamics have been carried out with the aim of identifying the lines of future work that ACE can promote in the region with the horizon set at COP27 and the action plan of the Glasgow programme formulated at COP26..

The meeting was co-organised by FIIAPP and the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of Argentina, with the participation of OREAL UNESCO. More than 40 representatives from 18 countries in the Region attended the meeting, which took place over 3 days, alternating presentations with workshops and participatory dynamics. We had the opportunity to have panelists such as Yayo Herrero and Pamela Poo, experts in ACE for FIIAPP, Raúl Oliván from the Open Government of Aragón to highlight the importance of innovation and citizen participation, Carlos March from the Avina Foundation, María Laura Vinuela from UNFCCC, and the people responsible for the National Climate Empowerment Strategies in Chile, Uruguay, Argentina, Colombia and Panama.

As major conclusions, we can highlight the following:

1. The need to have funding to be able to advance the development of the ACE strategies being designed in the countries.
2. The importance of moving towards an appropriate inter-institutional articulation, which transversalises the dimensions of ACE in all climate policies.
3. The relevance of approaching the agenda from a multi-level, multi-stakeholder and multi-sectoral perspective.
4. The need to continue strengthening the capacities of the people who work on ACE in the Region and who comprise this network, something to which the EUROCLIMA programme intends to contribute through the CAP ACE. 
5. The urgency of raising public sector awareness regarding Action for Climate Empowerment.
6. The need to continue deepening the monitoring and evaluation systems of the ENACEs, both quantitatively and qualitatively and with indicators that measure impact.
7. The verification of the added value of the different participatory processes developed to co-design the ENACEs.
8. The importance of regional integration in international positioning.

The Community for Practical Learning on ACE has been working during the 2021-2022 courses with the aim of providing a space for peer-to-peer exchange. During this time, we have worked on topics focused on the elements of ACE such as education, participation, communication, monitoring and evaluation, or access to information.

Within the framework of the Regional Meeting on ACE, the first face-to-face session of the ACE CAP was held, focusing on the "International Cooperation" element from its cross-cutting and strategic nature. During the day, the participants discussed the lessons learned during this time and worked on the roadmap for the coming years.

Developed through collaborative dynamics, some of the conclusions to be highlighted from this session:

• The need to give continuity to a space for exchange and collaboration such as CAP ACE that promotes public sector capacity building.
• The opportunity to foster networking between countries and international agencies.
• The importance of facilitating a space for inter-institutional and inter-sectoral articulation involving professionals from the different elements of ACE.
• The convenience of generating channels for communication and exchange of documentation through digital platforms.

Both the Regional Meeting and the face-to-face session on CAP ACE have been highlighted as strategic and fundamental spaces for the advancement of ACE in the region. Latin America has worked intensively on the development of public policies in ACE anchored to LTS or NDCs, and this places them in a scenario of innovation and reference for the promotion of ACE.

The work carried out in this line, and shared in Buenos Aires, gives an idea of the importance of ACE as a transversal proposal in Climate Change policies and in the framework of article 12 of the Paris Agreement, where ACE becomes a key piece for the necessary and urgent transformations in terms of Climate Change.

See the agenda and videos of the sessions

About EUROCLIMA+  

EUROCLIMA+ is a programme funded by the European Union and co-financed by the federal government of Germany 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 Program's mission is to reduce the impact of climate change and its effects in 18 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, promoting mitigation, adaptation, resilience and climate investment. For this, 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 AFD Group: the French Development Agency (AFD)/ Expertise France (EF), the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policy (FIIAPP), the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) GmbH, and the UN Environment Programme

Contact 

Daniel Fernández This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.