On the Thematic Day dedicated to ACE the EUROCLIMA pavilion addressed innovative experiences and upcoming challenges in this field in the regions of

Latin America and the Caribbean

Sharm El Sheikh, 17 November 2022-. The EUROCLIMA Programme has dedicated today's day at its COP27 pavilion to the analysis of Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE) in Latin America and the Caribbean, an area promoted by the Doha (2012-2020) and Glasgow (COP26) Work Programmes that focuses on improving education, training, awareness, public awareness, international cooperation and citizen participation in public policies on climate change.

During the ACE Thematic Day, the EUROCLIMA pavilion has hosted three events that have detailed innovative experiences and upcoming challenges in this area with the participation of representatives of civil society, academia, the private sector and authorities of the Latin American and Caribbean regions. The conference was coordinated by the International and Ibero-America Foundation for Administration and Public Policy, the implementing agency of the programme to support ACE actions in partner countries.

Under the title “National Climate Empowerment Strategies in Latin America”, the first session of the day highlighted ACE as a cross-cutting component of public policies on Climate Change in the Long-Term Climate Strategies (ENACE) of the different countries and the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) for emission reductions. The EUROCLIMA+ programme. through FIIAPP is accompanying the preparation of the ENACES of Chile, Uruguay, Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica and Panama.

With interventions from the Ministries of Environment of Chile, Panama and Uruguay, as well as the National Council for Climate Change of the Dominican Republic and the Ministry of Education of Colombia, this session highlighted the value of the ENACE as a means of implementing the climate commitments acquired by the country with the necessary condition of inclusivity. "Without inclusivity, there is no ENACE: when we talk about the components of ACE, we talk about rights and it is impossible to think about empowerment without considering the perspective of gender, people with disabilities or children," explained Lucía Cuozzi from Uruguay.

The second event of the day, “Climate participation and the Escazú Agreement“, focused on the importance of citizen participation as a fundamental tool for climate empowerment. The meeting was developed with a dialogue between civil society and the public sector in which the need to articulate with all types of actors to influence public policies and the ratification of Escazú throughout the region in order to achieve effective, real and inclusive participation was concluded. In this regard, Adriana Vázquez, from La Ruta del Clima, stressed that "the implementation of the ENACEs requires the ratification of the Escazú Agreement, which will ensure that the strategies make sense and effectively protect the region's population".

Spokespersons from CLIMALAB, Sustenta Honduras, the Mexican Centre for Environmental Law and Biosfera Investigación de Futuros took part in this dialogue.

The third and final session of the day addressed “Capacity Building in Climate Empowerment”, a key task for the promotion of climate competences. The expansion of knowledge, tools and resources allows progress in the fulfilment of political commitments in the field and a greater capacity for response and resilience in the face of climate change. This dialogue has analysed, among other issues, the relevance of eco-social education and technical training of the public sector on the subject of ACE, innovation in methodologies for dialogue with civil society or digital platforms for access to information such as ambicioncop.org. "With databases like this we can support processes for the integration of the different agreements in public policies, which is ultimately what we are seeking at this Climate Summit", explained Pablo Barrenechea from the ECODES Foundation.

Representatives of the Environmental Law Centre in Chile and Mexico, Redesign Lab and UNICEF took part in this activity, which was based on the publication "Capacity building at sub-national level" and also addressed issues contained in the EUROCLIMA technical document “Climate Competence: a cross-cutting proposal on capacities in Action for Climate Empowerment”.

The closing of the day relied on the intervention of different authorities who have described the experience of their governments in the field of ACE: the National Director of Mitigation and Adaptation in the Dominican Republic, Natalie Flores; the National Director of Climate Change in the Ministry of Environment of Panama, Ligia Castro; and the National Director of Climate Change in the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of the Republic of Argentina, Florencia Mitchel.

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 19 countries in 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-American Foundation for Public Administration and Policy (FIIAPP); the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) GmbH, and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).

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