The Sustainable Development Goal 13.3 envisions “Enhance education, awareness-raising, and human and institutional capacity on mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction, and early warning of climate change.” Combating global climate change and promoting sustainable development involves overcoming several challenges, with city training being a priority.
In an effort to support and inspire signatory cities on the path of climate action, in 2019, the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy in Latin America and the Caribbean presented a free series of webinars on various phases and aspects of the initiative.
Throughout the ten sessions presented in Portuguese and Spanish, 52 representatives from 21 Climate Change reference organizations [1] participated in this journey, sharing knowledge and accumulated experiences. The training covered what the Global Covenant of Mayors (GCoM) entails, from its origins and positive implications (session 1) to adherence requirements (2), reporting progress (3), involving different government and non-government actors (4), elements of a greenhouse gas inventory (5), setting greenhouse gas reduction goals (6), planning mitigation actions in the city (7), climate risk and vulnerability assessment (8), planning climate adaptation policies and measures (9), and finally, climate action financing (10).
In addition to technical presentations, each session invited a Covenant-signatory city to share its experience live. To appreciate the diversity of good practices, this space was present from the Colombian city of Topaga, with around 3,000 inhabitants, to larger cities on the continent, such as the capitals Lima and Quito of Peru and Ecuador, respectively, and iconic cities like Rio de Janeiro (with over 6 million inhabitants), totaling 20 [2] cities from 8 Latin American countries: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, and Peru.
From this list, Belén, Godoy Cruz, Quito, Topaga, and Recife were selected to participate in an interregional dialogue of the GCoM during the Third Event of the International Urban Cooperation Program (IUC) to be held next month in Brussels, Belgium. With the aim of sharing experiences and solutions, the activity will involve representatives from all regions of the Covenant: Europe, Southeast, South, and East Asia, Latin America, and North America.
The live sessions of the webinars will conclude on November 7, 2019, and have yielded positive results. To date, there have been 450 live participants and 720 views of the recordings. The resources are still available: recordings and webinar content can be accessed in the Resources section of the Covenant’s website and on the YouTube channel of the IUC LAC Helpdesk.
The Covenant invites all cities looking to develop their action plans to consult this material and thus enhance their technical capabilities to address climate change issues. Don’t miss this opportunity!
[1] Development Bank of Latin America (CAF); C40; Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP); European Covenant of Mayors; Cities Forum for Life (FCV); Faculty of Political Science, Government, and International Relations of the University of Rosario – Bogotá, Colombia; GIZ; ICLEI – Colombia; ICLEI – Global; ICLEI – SAMS; Climate and Society Institute (ICS); Institute of Planning and Management of the Development of the Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara (IMEPLAN); Energy and Environment Institute (IEMA); Joint Research Centre (JRC); UN-Habitat Brazil; International Urban Cooperation Program – Latin America and the Caribbean (IUC LAC); Argentine Network of Municipalities against Climate Change; Global Secretariat of GCoM; Regional Secretariat of GCoM; WayCarbon; WWF – Brazil and WWF – Ecuador;
[2] Mérida (Mexico); Godoy Cruz (Argentina); La Unión (Costa Rica) Santiago (Chile) Belén (Costa Rica); Quito (Ecuador); Lima (Peru); Juarez (Mexico); Topaga (Colombia); Rosario (Argentina); Campinas (Brazil-SP); Niteroi (Brazil-RJ); Fortaleza (Brazil-CE); Recife (Brazil-PE); João Pessoa (Brazil-PB); Londrina (Brazil-PR); Rio de Janeiro (Brazil-RJ); Belo Horizonte (Brazil-RJ); Curitiba (Brazil-PR).
