Coronel Portillo, La Estrella and Oreamuno bring the voice of the GCoM Latam Forum to Medellín Climate Week
With the participation of Forum mayors and the GCoM Latam team, the agenda reinforced the role of local governments in adaptation, access to finance and the structuring of climate projects
Janet Yvone Castagne, mayor of Coronel Portillo, Peru; Mario Gutiérrez, mayor of the Municipality of La Estrella, Colombia; and Erick Jiménez, mayor of Oreamuno, Costa Rica, represented the Mayors Forum of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy in Latin America (GCoM Latam) during Medellín Climate Week, held in Medellín, Colombia, from September 28 to October 1, 2026.
The event brought together local and subnational governments, city networks, cooperation agencies, financial institutions, the private sector, academia and civil society organizations around territorial climate action. The Summit of Mayors and Local and Subnational Governments, held on September 28, was one of the main high-level political spaces of the program. The program continued throughout the week with spaces for dialogue, technical exchange and coordination among cities, international networks and partner organizations. The agenda was led by the Mayor’s Office of Medellín – ACI Medellín, in partnership with ICLEI, C40 Cities and CAF – Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean.
The presence of the Forum cities was also supported by Guillermo Piñones, GCoM Latam’s technical advisor on climate finance, who joined the agenda alongside the delegation.
The sessions addressed strategic topics for cities, including nature-based solutions, climate risk management, technical cooperation, financing and the structuring of local initiatives.
Nature-based solutions in response to climate risks
Janet Yvone Castagne, mayor of Coronel Portillo, participated in the panel “Nature-based Solutions in Response to Climate Risks.” The session aimed to exchange experiences with leaders and representatives of local and subnational governments on the challenges posed by climate risks in territorial contexts and the role of nature-based solutions as effective alternatives from a resilience perspective.
During the conversation, the mayor addressed the main climate risks facing Coronel Portillo and highlighted the importance of advancing responses connected to the needs of the territory.
In this context, she presented the project being developed with support from GCoM’s technical assistance, focused on green corridors as an alternative to address two key challenges: heatwaves and flood risks.
The proposal seeks to consolidate a solution with a dual impact, contributing both to reducing temperatures in urban areas and to better management of extreme rainfall and flooding events.
“Participating in Medellín Climate Week was a very important opportunity to bring visibility to the climate challenges faced by cities such as Coronel Portillo. In the panel on nature-based solutions, we were able to share how we are looking at green corridors as a concrete response to risks such as heatwaves and floods. For us, bringing this experience to a regional space reinforces the importance of building solutions from the territory, with technical support and cooperation,” said Janet Yvone Castagne.
Another point highlighted by the mayor was the need to coordinate technical support and partnerships beyond the municipal administration. As shared during the panel, Coronel Portillo has been developing initial ideas that, with the support of organizations such as GCoM, ICLEI and other partners, can move toward more structured proposals with the potential to be presented to funders.
Technical and financial cooperation for local governments
Also during the Summit, Erick Jiménez, mayor of Oreamuno, participated in the panel “Trends in Technical and Financial Cooperation at the Local and Subnational Level.” The session brought together local authorities, cooperation entities and institutions linked to sustainable development to discuss opportunities for support and financing for the climate agenda.
In his remarks, Jiménez highlighted the role of strategic partnerships and city networks throughout the entire cycle of local climate action. The mayor noted the importance of starting awareness-raising processes, strengthening technical capacities within municipalities and developing basic instruments that allow them to move from planning to implementation.
“For Oreamuno, participating in Medellín Climate Week was an opportunity to reinforce the importance of partnerships in local climate action. In the panel on technical and financial cooperation, we emphasized that municipalities need to strengthen capacities, better plan their projects and build strategic connections that allow them to move toward implementation. Cooperation is key for ideas to become concrete and financeable actions,” said Erick Jiménez.
Oreamuno’s experience also showed the need to connect local planning with complementary partnerships capable of supporting project execution and financing. In this regard, the mayor mentioned the collaboration with GCoM and other initiatives developed by the municipality, with the aim of strengthening strategic ties across different lines of work.
During the panel, the importance of GCoM’s technical assistance for the proper conceptualization of projects was also highlighted, considering strategic criteria, feasibility and alignment with the expectations of potential funders. The perspective shared by Oreamuno reinforces that access to finance depends not only on the existence of good ideas, but also on the ability to turn them into clear, structured and financeable proposals.
Climate Week and the Medellín Declaration
As part of the Summit of Local and Subnational Governments, the opening day also featured the presentation of the Medellín Declaration. It seeks to strengthen the leadership of local and subnational governments and accelerate the implementation of solutions to climate, environmental and development challenges. It also recognizes that cities and territories are key spaces for addressing the impacts of climate change, advancing risk management and promoting adaptation measures.
The participation of the GCoM Latam Forum in Medellín Climate Week reinforces the importance of these high-level regional spaces for connecting local leaders, technical cooperation and financing opportunities. For GCoM, events like this are essential to expand capacities, bring visibility to territorial experiences and transform local priorities into concrete, resilient and inclusive climate projects.
