economy and politics

ECLAC presents document on climate action at the 11th edition of the World Urban Forum

Katowice, Poland, June 28, 2022.

ECLAC together with the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (GCoM) carried out a pilot project during 2021 to study the climate action plans of three cities in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), signatories of the GCoM. The pilot project represented a first step for a more long-term approach, whose objective is to establish a procedure for analyzing the impact of the plans for the cities of LAC. Although more and more cities have this type of plan, the main challenge continues to be taking action, which is why the project focused on the creation of tools and/or methodologies that allow providing more precise guidelines for the implementation of measures. o prioritized mitigation and adaptation actions.

In this sense, the document, product of this pilot project entitled “Tools to accelerate the implementation of climate action plans in Latin America and the Caribbean”, which has been presented in several instances, on this occasion, was made visible in the World Urban Forum11th edition, in space “City Library”.

Estefani Rondón Toro, Research Assistant of the DDSAH, presented the document, explaining the process of carrying out the project, and the product materialized from five (5) tools available in it, as support in decision-making on priority actions. of mitigation and adaptation, so that local governments of small, medium and large cities can have replicable methodologies based on the context and reality of their territories.

Next, Marja Edelman, Senior Expert Latin America of the GCoM, commented on the mission of the Pact in the region, in its strengthening of support to cities for the achievement of global climate goals. Likewise, she added about the experience and benefits of the pilot project, which made it possible to further strengthen this support, generating a very useful product for the advancement of cities in the implementation of their actions.

Based on the presentations by ECLAC and GCoM, a discussion panel was subsequently held to learn about external views on how these tools and the pilot process could contribute to accelerating climate action in the cities of the region. In this regard, we were joined on the panel by Mr. Jaime Pumarejo, Mayor of the city of Barranquilla, Colombia, and Ms. Anelis Marichal, General Director of the National Institute for Territorial Planning and Urbanism (INOTU) of Cuba.

Mr. Jaime Pumarejo added that our Latin American cities have a unique biodiversity to carry out initiatives that generate both adaptation and mitigation, and that the project led by ECLAC and GCoM brings key indicators to preserve this biodiversity. Likewise, he commented on the fact that the city of Barranquilla is attached to the “BiodiverCiudades” initiative, considered in turn in the Barranquilla District Development Plan 2020-2023 I am Barranquilla which seeks to consolidate the city as the first Biodiversity City in Colombia through projects that promote the recovery of bodies of water, care for the urban environment, and resilience and sustainability.

For her part, Ms. Anelis Marichal, added that Cuba, as a small island state, is subject to the effects of climate change, for which reason it has been working on mitigation and adaptation actions integrated into the Disaster Risk Management Plan. and the State Plan for the implementation of the New Urban Agenda (NAU). Mrs. Marichal added that the methodology would facilitate the prioritization of actions by applying qualitative and quantitative analyzes that are much needed for decision-making, in turn to integrate climate action aspects into land-use planning instruments.

Marja Edelman (GCom), Estefani Rondón (CEPAL), Jaime Pumarejo (Mayor Barranquilla), Anelis Marichal (INOTU, Cuba)

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