“The private sector is moving towards sustainability. Actually, the majority of CEOs already know that their companies cannot prosper in a world affected by climate change”. The words of Paul Polman, Executive Director of Unilever, warn us that growth is impossible if we don’t combat climate change.

 The European Commission's (EC) Directorate-General for Development and Cooperation (EuropeAid) hosted a side event titled 'EUROCLIMA: Joint Latin America-European Union (EU) Regional Responses to Climate Change Challenges' on the sidelines of the Lima Climate Change Conference. The event focused on key results of regional responses to climate change challenges and opportunities for collaboration with Latin America through programmes such as EUROCLIMA.

The climate change summit that began here Monday will be "historic for Peru and crucial for the world," Peruvian Environment Minister Manuel Pulgar Vidal said.

The region of Latin America and the Caribbean is already a global low-carbon leader in terms of power generation from hydrological and biomass resources, and it recently has made great strides in developing its other renewable energy sources. Declining costs, maturing technologies, and vast untapped potentials for renewables offer an unprecedented opportunity for further development of the renewable energy market in the region. Continuing to invest in renewables will provide Latin America and the Caribbean with the opportunity to address key economic, social, and environmental challenges in the energy sector.