Tela, Honduras, 2 May 2012. Around 60 representatives from various Latin American countries met in Tela, Honduras to share the main results of the actions carried out on climate change and water resources management in the framework of the regional cooperation between the European Union (EU) and Latin America through the EUROCLIMA programme and the RALCEA project.
The Second EUROCLIMA Coordination Workshop and the Second Annual RALCEA Regional Seminar were planned jointly because, according to Ms Catherine Ghyoot, manager of the EUROCLIMA programme, Directorate General for Development and Cooperation - EuropeAid, holding both events at the same venue exploits synergies between programmes and their actions and results in more information being shared amongst participants.
“The global challenges of climate change require coordinated and shared responses”, said Ms Ghyoot. “Therefore, to form a true platform which encourages the exchange of knowledge and achieves an impact on political decision making, we need to know what we are doing and how we are doing it”, she said.
During the event’s opening ceremony it was noted that the EU aims to maintain a leading role in both development cooperation and global climate change policies. In particular, the EU aims to contribute to develop in the long term the political dialogue on this topic.
In this respect, Mr Peter Versteeg, Charge d’Affaires of the European Union Delegation in Honduras, stressed that even though Latin America and the EU are natural allies united by a commitment to global stability, the future of cooperation depends not only on the results of funded projects but also on the commitment of governments to continue and monitor these initiatives.
Indeed, from 2014 onwards, the EU support for bilateral programmes will only benefit the most disadvantaged Latin American countries. However, all Latin American countries will continue to count on the support of regional programmes.
“We need to continue with the support we are receiving through EUROCLIMA because these events enable us to shorten distances and to know how the issue of climate change is dealt by each country, how the offices operate and how they seek to influence public policy”, said Mr José Luis Maccarone, Coordinator of International Affairs Unit of the Secretariat of Environment and Sustainable Development of Argentina. “This is a unique opportunity to interact, and we hope that through this regional programme we are able to strengthen these processes and effectively create a platform for exchange”, he emphasised.
On the other hand, Mr Jan Karremans, Director of Technical Support for EUROCLIMA, presented a summary of the programme’s major achievements, amongst them the production of six thematic studies intended to bring together existing information for a meta-analysis of the current situation regarding each theme.
The studies will focus on the impacts of climate change on coastal marine infrastructures, indicators for planning and monitoring adaptation initiatives, an inventory of adaptation measures at the watershed level and a guide to reducing soil degradation due to the effects of climate change. “The studies are aimed at the concrete needs of the Focal Points and now the goal is for these results to strengthen what is already being done at national level”, said Mr Karremans.
Meanwhile, Mr César Carmona, RALCEA coordinator, highlighted the active participation that has been achieved amongst Network members and the selection of research centres. “We have progressed significantly on an operational proposal for the Network and already have different proposals for activities that we are working on. These include regional water balance, stakeholder mapping, indicators of water quality and sanitation, among others”, said Carmona.
As part of the activities planned in Honduras, the First Latin American and Caribbean Dialogue on Financing for Climate Change and Development Effectiveness was held on 3-4 May. The Dialogue was being coordinated by the Ministry of Planning and External Cooperation (SEPLAN) and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (SERNA) of Honduras. The event was also supported by EUROCLIMA.