Five mayors and communal presidents of municipalities that recently completed the Greenhouse Gas Inventory in their locality met virtually to sign the letter of commitment to the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (GCoM). The participating municipalities are: General Lagos, Santa Fe; Almafuerte, Córdoba; Villa Carlos Paz, Córdoba; Villarino, Buenos Aires and Ramona.
From now on, local governments are part of this global alliance that has more than 10,500 cities in 135 countries. Upon joining, they have the following benefits:
- Visibility and international positioning of the city.
- Exchange between municipalities and cities around the world.
- Common Reporting Framework to meet international reporting standards.
- International validation of the reported information.
In 2017, the RAMCC was appointed National Coordinator of the GCoM by the European Union. As such, it stimulates the adhesion of new municipalities and gives support and accompaniment to the municipalities to fulfill the requirements established by this alliance. Of the 463 Latin American cities that participate in GCoM today, 127 are part of the RAMCC; that is, it has a 26% share in the region.
About the virtual meeting
This first group act of signing, which took place last Thursday, September 10, was attended by the Coordinator of the Global Compact of Mayors for Climate and Energy for Latin America and the Caribbean, Marja Edelman, who chaired and shared words of welcome and the following local signatory authorities:
- Esteban Ferri, communal president of General Lagos (province of Santa Fe)
- Daniel Gómez Gesteira, mayor of Villa Carlos Paz (Córdoba)
- Carlos José Bevilacqua, Mayor of Villarino (Buenos Aires)
- José Alberto Barbero, municipal president of Ramona (Santa Fe)
- Rubén Dagum, Mayor of Almafuerte (Córdoba)
Marja Edelman, Coordinator of the GCoM in LAC, used her opening speech to welcome the municipalities:
“On behalf of the Covenant, I congratulate and welcome the municipalities that join our coalition today, which is the largest alliance of local governments that leads the fight for climate change, with the support of municipal networks and other institutional actors. For this reason, I would like to thank and acknowledge the work of the RAMCC as the National Coordinator of the Pact in Argentina and as the main driver and facilitator of the initiative in the country. In Argentina we have 147 municipalities adhering to the GCoM and this year the highest numbers of achievements came precisely from municipalities there. This shows the commitment not only of the RAMCC, but also of the Argentine municipalities “.
For their part, each mayor presented some of the main lines of climate action that they plan to deepen or implement, after having finalized their inventories and from the consolidation of this commitment to the global community.
With this event as a kick-off, the RAMCC started a model of meetings where municipalities assume a new international commitment together with other local governments, exchanging views, experiences and future challenges, rectifying the local and collective effort required to face climate change.
http://https://youtu.be/vBXPxE0jv0Q
Source: RAMCC.
