The Centro de Formación de la Cooperación Española in Antigua, Guatemala hosts the Annual Meeting of 33 member countries of the Euroclima Programme.

La Antigua, Guatemala, March 5, 2024. From March 5 – 7, Guatemala became the epicentre for climate collaboration between the European Union and Latin America and the Caribbean. Representatives from the 33 member countries gathered at the Centro de Formación de la Cooperación Española in Antigua for the Annual Meeting of Euroclima, the European Union’s flagship programme to combat climate change and protect biodiversity in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) regions. The brings Euroclima stakeholders together to review the achievements of the past year and discuss priority actions for 2024.

The Annual Meeting of the Euroclima Programme in Guatemala is a key opportunity to review methodologies, share lessons learned and chart new sectoral objectives and timelines for achieving the core purpose of the programme – contributing to a green and just transition for Latin America and the Caribbean; a transition towards circular economies that are carbon-neutral, resilient, risk-assessed, integrated with nature, sustainable, inclusive, and equitable.

“The consequences of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution are becoming increasingly serious. During the EU-CELAC Summit in July 2023, the European Union and our Latin American and Caribbean partners committed to boost efforts to tackle this global challenge together. That is why we are widening both the geographic and thematic scope of the Euroclima Programme to confront this existential threat to life on our planet,” affirmed European Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen.

The Commissioner was represented in Guatemala by the Director for Latin America and the Caribbean of the European Commission’s Directorate-General of International Partnerships, Félix Fernández-Shaw, who included the Annual Meeting of the Euroclima Programme as one of the key moments of his visit to Guatemala. The full agenda of his visit included meetings with officials in the administration of President Bernardo Arévalo, who took office in January, and site visits around the country to assess potential initiatives to be financed by the EU-LAC Global Gateway Investment Agenda, such as the Motagua river basin.

This first visit of the Directorate General of International Partnerships to Guatemala since the installation of the new government had the participation of representatives from development banks, international financial institutions, and development agencies from European Union member states.

Guatemala’s Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, María José Iturbide, asserted, “This partnership with the European Union is of great benefit to Guatemala, especially with the regional development programme, EUROCLIMA, through which we are implementing a series of projects that will benefit the Guatemalan people.”

“Recently, we presented the strategic pillars and measures that must underpin the development of a National Transition Strategy towards the Circular Economy in Guatemala. Work is also being done to implement the Strategic Plan for the Manabique Point and Cuyamel-Omoa Sustainable Biological Corridor – Wildlife Refuge, a two-country project that also includes Honduras. And we continue to explore new collaborations with the Euroclima Programme with the aim that each one meets its purpose of environmental sustainability and climate adaptation and mitigation.”

Since its creation in 2010, the Euroclima Programme has launched more than 260 initiatives with partner countries. Some initiatives have driven large-scale national projects (such as the development of long-term climate strategies, climate change legislation, gender and climate change action plans, among many others), others were designed as localized pilot projects with the potential to be replicated in other territories (such as the electrification of the ‘tuk-tuk’ fleet in Chimaltenango or the management of urban water in the Marqués Valley in Guatemala; the urban bicycles network in Guadalajara, Mexico; or the development of Regional Climate Change Action Plans in Chile).

Since 2010, the European Union has approved an amount of €265 million for Euroclima. Some actions have been completed, others are currently being implemented, and some €50 million remain to be allocated/implemented. An additional amount of €50 million is in the process of being approved, which would bring the total available amount for cooperation with the region to around €100 million.

Euroclima made important progress in 2023 thanks to three key milestones, which included the integration of 14 Caribbean countries into the programme; the relaunching of relations between the European Union and Latin American and the Caribbean during the EU-CELAC Summit in July; and the launch of the EU-LAC Global Gateway Investment Agenda, which will allow Euroclima to drive better climate policies, as well as facilitate ambitious infrastructure projects to advance the region’s green transition.

Euroclima Programme in Guatemala

Since its inception, the Euroclima Programme has implemented 10 initiatives in Guatemala totalling €4.3 million. Additionally, Guatemala has benefited from 49 other interventions with multinational or regional scope under this programme.

Some highlights of these initiatives include improvement of the water supply in the Marquense valley, strengthening of the management and protection of national protected areas, the push towards sustainable food production in several parts of the country, and collaboration on the development of national strategies for electromobility, circular economy and waste management, gender, and actions for climate empowerment.

In addition, as part of the initiatives linked to the Global Gateway Investment Agenda under the Green Pact, the European Union has pledged €40 million to drive a green transition in the Petén region and is exploring the possibility of developing a comprehensive intervention strategy to combat pollution along the Motagua river basin and improve the water supply in Guatemala City. At the regional level, Guatemala would benefit from complementary regional programmes, aimed at strengthening resilience to extreme weather events and to promote the sustainable use of forest resources.

Cultural Exhibition – “AJKANUL, guardian of the forest”

The closed-door sessions of the Euroclima Annual Meeting are being complemented by an exhibit that is open to the public in Antigua – both locals and visitors to the city. The exhibit “AJKANUL, guardian of the forest” is a cultural display that seeks to visualize some of the actions of the European Union’s flagship programme in various sectors in which it works in different Latin American countries, as well as regionally.

The exhibit offers visitors a look into the work developed by the Euroclima Programme in different ways (photography, video, and virtual reality), connecting them to the Mayan worldview on protecting nature through a series of different Mayan nuahales (symbolic animals that represent protective spirits).

It aims to delve into the impacts of climate change in different territories, living environments and productive sectors in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as the mitigation and adaptation actions that Euroclima has developed since the beginning of its cooperation with national governments in the region. The exhibition will be open from Wednesday, March 6 until May 31 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Centro de Formación de la Cooperación Española in Antigua.

About Euroclima 

Euroclima is the European Union’s flagship Programme that strengthens the strategic partnership with Latin America and the Caribbean, based on shared values and commitment to jointly address climate change and protect biodiversity. It is a platform to exchange ideas and experiences between countries in the region and the European Union.

The programme is co-financed by the European Union and the German federal government through the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). It seeks to contribute to a green and just transition through climate mitigation and adaptation efforts, including the protection, restoration and conservation of biodiversity and the promotion of the circular economy.

Euroclima is part of the renewed Agenda for Relations between the EU and Latin America and the Caribbean and is part of the Global Gateway Strategy that promotes investments and financing for relevant sectors, as well as the use of other tools from the EU and its Member States to achieve more sustainable, just, and interconnected societies.

It is implemented in the spirit of Team Europe and through eight agencies from EU Member States and the United Nations: Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo (AECID), Agence française de développement (AFD)/ Expertise France Group (EF), Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Fundación Internacional y Para Iberoamérica de Administración y Políticas Públicas (FIIAPP), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).