The two Panamanian cities are part of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (GCoM), with La Chorrera joining in 2016 and Chitré in 2020. They will begin their climate action initiatives by conducting their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inventories. After advancing in the development of these inventories and identifying the sectors that produce the most emissions in both cities, the next step will be to plan strategies to reduce those emissions.
The upcoming steps in these two cities’ journey toward fulfilling their commitments under the GCoM were defined in two meetings held on January 25th and 28th of this year, led by the Association of Municipalities of Panama (AMUPA), the institution coordinating the GCoM’s in the country. Both meetings were supported by the Argentine Network of Municipalities against Climate Change (RAMCC), the GCoM’s coordinator in Argentina, and an institution with extensive experience in supporting cities in the development of their Climate Action Plans under the GCoM.
It is worth noting that there has been a strategic collaboration alliance between AMUPA and RAMCC since 2021. Besides strengthening the bonds of friendship and cooperation between the two institutions and identifying many points of convergence in their work, the exchange of information allows AMUPA to benefit from RAMCC’s experience in project management and execution, an area in which AMUPA is also working to soon put into practice in Panama.
As explained by Jorge Solís, AMUPA’s Manager of Local Development and Sustainability, “all the management done by AMUPA was channeled through RAMCC. Initially, RAMCC, with the support of the consultancy ALPA Soluciones Climáticas, will prepare the GHG inventories of the two municipalities, and by April, the local climate action plans should be completed,” he highlighted.
In the first meeting, the initiative was presented to Mayors Tomás Velásquez (La Chorrera), Juan Carlos Huerta (Chitré), and their respective environmental managers. The climate change team from the Ministry of Environment also participated and committed to providing the necessary data to develop the inventories.
During the second meeting, deadlines were established. The expectation is that the GHG inventories will be ready by the end of February and the Climate Action Plans by April. During this meeting, tasks were assigned for information gathering by the teams from each municipality. The team from ALPA Soluciones Climáticas, who will be responsible for providing technical support and conducting training sessions with concrete examples to foster the exchange of knowledge and experiences, was also invited. Currently, AMUPA is defining the legal conditions of a collaboration agreement with ALPA, which is expected to be signed soon.
In conclusion, Solís stated that the expectation from this point forward is to take quick steps to meet the outlined objectives.
