The citizen consultation process for the National Strategy for Climate Empowerment, aimed at promoting citizen participation in the fight against climate change, began today in Panama City.
The consultation, launched by the Ministry of Environment with the support of the European Union's Euroclima Program through the International and Ibero-American Foundation for Public Administration and Policies (FIIAPP), will be carried out through a national workshop and seven regional workshops.
More than 600 people representing the national government, regional governments, municipalities, academia, the private sector, and the country's civil society, including representatives of Panama's indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples, will participate in these workshops.
"We want to deepen and expand the scope of the coalition that in recent years we have established between the government and the citizens of Panama to fight climate change," said Ligia Castro, Director of Climate Change at Panama's Ministry of Environment.
"It is impossible for public policies to succeed in the fight against climate change without the involvement of citizens. For this reason, the Euroclima Program and the FIIAPP are committed to citizen participation and climate empowerment," said Elsa Velasco, Coordinator of the Euroclima Program at this Spanish cooperation institution.
"The European Union-Panama cooperation on climate change is part of the Global Gateway Strategy, launched by the EU in 2021 to build more resilient connections and partnerships with the rest of the world in order to overcome the great challenges of our times," said Adolfo Campos, Chargé d'Affaires (a.i.) of the EU Delegation in Panama.
Action for Climate Empowerment is based on six elements: education, training, social awareness, access to information, citizen participation and international cooperation.
These elements enable the development of climate competencies, a key factor in the global fight against climate change, as stated in Article 6 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Article 12 of the Paris Agreement.
These climate competences are defined as the set of knowledge, skills, practices, motivation, ethical values, attitudes and emotions that allow understanding the moment of historical crossroads in which humanity finds itself, assessing the options that exist to face it and acting accordingly in an ethical and responsible way, with the ultimate purpose of moving towards societies that are safe for living beings, resilient and capable of sustaining the whole of life with dignity and rights.
The European Union's Euroclima Program has supported the promotion of these climate competencies through the development of national strategies for Climate Empowerment Action in various Latin American countries, which Panama now joins with this participatory process, to be developed according to the following schedule:
National Workshop:
- 17 de agosto. Ciudad de Panamá (Hotel El Panamá).
Regional Workshops:
- August 21. Veraguas.
- August 23rd. Herrera + Los Santos + Cocle.
- August 25. Bocas del Toro and Chiriqui.
- August 28th. Guna Yala.
- September 8. North Panama and Colon.
- September 11th. Emberá-Wounaan + Darién + East Panama.
- September 14th. Ngäbe Buglé.