Ibero-American ministers present declaration of support for Paris Agreement and to urgently seek implementation

"The declaration raises the profile of the Ibero-American region and regional cooperation on climate change. Leadership and cooperation are two key aspects for meeting the commitments made in Paris".

The Spanish minister said this within the framework of the Bonn Climate Summit (COP 23), at the annual ministerial meeting of the Latin American Network of Climate Change Offices (Spanish acronym: RIOCC) organised alongside the annual climate summits.

The minister stressed that, "against the current international backdrop, and considering all stakeholders and sectors, various international and regional forums are sending messages to foster action and support the commitment made to the Paris Agreement, which marked a before and after in the negotiations on climate change and defines a roadmap to be followed for building new low-carbon and climate-resilient development models".

In her speech, Isabel García Tejerina also thanked Guatemala for its work as joint president of the RIOCC in 2017 alongside Spain, as well as for its close collaboration, which "allows us, year after year, to maintain a regional cooperation platform so that countries can harness its potential for implementing their policies to combat climate change".

The meeting was attended by ministers and climate change department heads from 21 countries in the Ibero-American region (Andorra, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Spain, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, the Dominican Republic, Uruguay and Venezuela).

Firm commitment to cooperation on climate issues

Isabel García Tejerina explained the various activities carried out by the network in 2017, as well as those scheduled for coming years. From among them, she mentioned the progress made on launching the 'Assessment of Climate Change Vulnerability and Adaptation Actions' project, the result of which will be a representative and balanced selection of adaptation actions in the region that will provide a potential contribution to feeding the new IPCC assessment cycle.

Furthermore, a workshop entitled 'Climate Finance and the Green Climate Fund' was held in Antigua (Guatemala) in June, at which country representatives from finance and environment ministries were able to gain first-hand knowledge about the steps to follow for accessing and designing projects to be funded by the Green Climate Fund.

Finally, a workshop entitled 'Involving Society in Climate Change: experiences in communication, social participation and fostering education in the Ibero-American region' will take place in Montevideo in December. This is a particularly important topic for all countries wishing to involve and mobilise civil society. These activities are being supported by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) through such programmes as ARAUCLIMA and INTERCOONECTA.

Ongoing dialogue

The Latin American Network of Climate Change Offices seeks to maintain constant and fluid dialogue in order to better know the priorities, challenges and experiences of Ibero-American countries in terms of climate change.

Since it was set up in 2004, a total of 14 annual meetings have been held and approximately 35 training workshops have been organised with a view to enhancing the development and application of policies and activities to combat climate change in countries throughout the region.

These efforts foster attendance and the creation of partnerships between all countries for working together under the auspices of the UNFCCC negotiations. The main activities undertaken and the goals for the RIOCC work programme are reviewed at the annual meetings of the network, identifying new actions or topics of interest on which to continue working together.

The meetings produce conclusions that are then taken to the Ibero-American Environment Ministers Forum. In addition, a ministerial RIOCC meeting is organised alongside the summits in order to make the most of those high-level events and attendance by government ministers. These ministerial meetings promote and support the work undertaken by the network.

Non official translation