San Salvador, El Salvador, July 29, 2013. "We have a clear mandate to encourage governmental institutions to seek intersectoral solutions that allow urgent adaptation to this environmental phenomenon (climate change)," said Jaime Miranda, Deputy Minister for Development Cooperation and Head of the Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of El Salvador, during the inauguration of the Second Dialogue on Climate Finance in Latin America and the Caribbean.
In this same line of thought, Herman Rosa Chavez, Minister of Environment and Natural Resources of El Salvador mentioned that it’s necessary to strengthen national institutions as access to climate finance for countries in the region have been reduced, mainly due to the lack of information on climate funds available, but also due to weaknesses in the institutional structures to manage efficiently resources.
The Minister was also emphatic when stating that legally binding mitigation commitments have to be achieved, even by developing countries, but similarly binding commitments regarding funding.
In the morning, Dr. Paul Oquist Kelly, Minister, Private Secretary for National Policies in Nicaragua gave the keynote speech “Climate finance in the context of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC): conclusions, synergies and scenarios to enhance the global context from the regional process". In his keynote speech, he expressed the need to achieve economic growth to mitigate climate change.
In this regard, Stefan Agne of DG Climate Action of the European Commission, said that between 1990 and 2011 the gross domestic product of the European Union increased by 40% while the greenhouse gases emissions were reduced by more than 15%. "That is, we decoupled economic growth from greenhouse gases emissions".
Mr. Agne added that it is necessary to integrate mitigation and adaptation measures in the economic development of countries, in development plans and public and private budgets. "We need to involve the private sector and promote low carbon investments and adapt these to climate change," he said.
This international meeting, which is taking place from 29 to 30 July in San Salvador, aims to continue the First Dialogue, which started in 2012 in Tela, Honduras. The main objective is to share experiences and the progress made on this issue globally. Therefore, the participants include representatives of the Ministries of Environment, Foreign Affairs, Planning and Finance of most Latin American countries, plus representatives of governments of the Caribbean and Asia, as well as representatives from various international public and private institutions.
During these two days, the participants will attend the sharing sessions, the real 'heart' of the event that will allow participants to share concrete progress on climate finance instruments, inter-institutional coordination and the role of private sector in climate finance. To continue with these exchanges between countries, the climatefinance.info platform will be used and a Third Dialogue will be organised, very closely linked with the COP 2014, to be held in Peru.
The event is supported by the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF), the European Commission through the EUROCLIMA programme, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) through the REGATTA programme.
For more information:
http://climatefinance.info/profiles/blogs/arranca-el-ii-dialogo-finanzas-clima
Or contact: Alexandra Cortes, EUROCLIMA
Phone number: 00 503 7625 2129
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