What has been the most important development to come out of the Rio+20 Earth Summit?

There are several points worth mentioning. Firstly, institutional change processes have been established linked to the Sustainable Development Objectives (SDO). For example, the decision to create a High Level Forum that will replace the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC). This forum will have the power to deliberate, coordinate and resolve; therefore, more coherence in the global processes towards sustainable development is expected. Furthermore, it was agreed to establish an intergovernmental process to create a sustainable funding strategy based on innovative mechanisms. At the same time the need to establish an environment conducive to the transfer of technology to developing countries was defined. Moreover, an improvement process is being introduced for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in order for it to have universal membership with a regular United Nations budget. It will also be granted greater powers, such as those required for coordination of the environmental pillar and for managing operational aspects and schedules. 

The third process has to do with the definition of the SDOs for all countries that must align themselves with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This process must be started in 2012 and be completed in 2013 by means of a General Assembly resolution. This decision is important for the Regional Commissions as they are called on to support this process. Lastly, it is important to point out that the summit reinforces the operation of multilateralism, the validity of the Sustainable Development concept and endorses the commitments made at the earth summit in 1992.

What alternatives or actions will allow the countries of the region to maintain their comparative and competitive advantages in the agricultural sector?

Climate change is especially significant for Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries, due to the importance of primary production in the national economies and the vulnerability of the sector. As regards the alternatives for the region’s countries, there are several ways of approaching this. One is through marginal improvements in current production processes. This involves introducing process improvements through research and development. One example can be seen in Brazil where cattle farming processes have been improved to increase productivity without increasing the extension. Uruguay and Argentina have also developed measures along the same line in cattle farming processes and no-till farming respectively.

A second area of opportunity lies in payment for environmental services (PES), this is based on the recognition of environmental services created by afforestation, forestation and conservation of woods, which, in the jargon of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), is known as REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation). Payment for environmental services may improve the opportunity cost scheme in favour of conservation. A third opportunity is to internalise the real costs in the production controlled by the region (soya, wheat and some minerals) in order to put pressure on the international price system and oblige real production costs to be acknowledged so that markets contribute to conservation and not to destruction.

What actions or alternatives can the region’s countries implement to develop a sustainable economy?

Further to the traditional view of funding and technology transfers that would allow improved production patterns to be established, for example in energy, is improvement in the Governance of natural resources. Undoubtedly the Governance process would allow non-renewable resources to be converted into better and lasting alternatives. 

For example, an appropriate charge for the use and access to natural resources could strengthen public finances and, consequently, encourage the introduction of cleaner processes. In summary, to put an appropriate value on access to natural resources, to prevent tax losses with subsidies that are socially and environmentally counterproductive and to determine the real costs of the economic activity, including the environmental and health costs. This would allow a price system to be created that sends out the right signals to societies, investors, companies and consumers in favour of sustainable development. The significant point here is that we are not talking about a technological problem or lack of funding, but of understanding, vision, willingness, of a conceptual problem you could say.

How do you think that the EUROCLIMA programme can provide the countries with the tools to address the arrangements or substantive elements agreed in the document “The future we want”?

Climate change is one of the big problems facing mankind and is recognised as such in the “The future we want” document and EUROCLIMA is addressing this problem head on. Addressing the problems of adaptation and mitigation is a response to the hardest and widest ranging environmental challenge for mankind, the economy and biodiversity and is one of the most difficult to deal with. Climate change is a symptom of an economy that is not being managed correctly, that improperly excludes costs; therefore, confronting this problem also allows many other environmental problems to be indirectly addressed such as local congestion, pollution, change of use of land, etc. 

Putting adaptation and mitigation management in place will create a number of very significant environmental, economic and social co-benefits; for this EUROCLIMA is one of the main levers for redirecting the economy toward sustainable development criteria.