Continuing the work of previous years, the members of the National Consultative Committee of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (GCoM) in Chile met remotely on Wednesday, June 9, to initiate the work in Chile during the new implementation phase of the Covenant in the region.
The Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy is a powerful and historic response to climate change by cities around the world,becoming the largest alliance on the matter, reducing its unavoidable impacts and facilitating access to clean and affordable energy. Built on the commitment of more than 10,000 cities globally, this partnership strengthens the capacities and climate actions of local governments and sub-national authorities.
With the participation of representatives of the Delegation of the European Union to Chile, Adapt-Chile, Chilean Association of Municipalities, Ministry of Housing and Urbanism (MINVU), Ministry of Environment (MMA), Energy Sustainability Agency (ASE), Undersecretary of Regional and Administrative Development (SUBDERE) and Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the National Consultative Committee (CCN) of GCoM in Chile met remotely.
This is the first official activity since the Chilean Association of Municipalities (AChM) assumed the responsibility of chairing the Committee last August, formalizing the new leadership. AChM also plays the role of National Coordinator of the Covenant in the country, together with Adapt Chile.
The purpose of this instance is to join efforts at the local, national and regional levels for the development of a working strategy to achieve the objectives of the Covenant in line with Chile’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). The committee aligns activities and progress in the work of the Covenant with the National Government, and links the Covenant to other national programs related to climate change.
Fernando Paredes Mansilla, mayor of Natales and president of the AChM, thanked the members of the CCN for their confidence in appointing this organization to take the lead and made special emphasis on the importance of this Committee for networking with a territorial approach. Paredes highlighted the 28-year trajectory of the Association and its representativeness, which reaches more than 90% of Chilean municipalities.
Likewise, Marja Edelman, Latin America specialist for the Project in support of the GCoM in the Americas – founded by the European Union -, presented the new GCoM Americas program, objectives and priorities for 2021. Considering the capacities and needs identified in Chile, Edelman highlighted the importance of this committee to provide support to local governments in Chile so that they can make further progress in their climate trajectories and in the stages proposed by the Covenant. In this regard, the program proposes that committed local governments develop, within pre-established deadlines, GHG emissions inventories, climate risk and vulnerability assessments, targets and action plans, including mitigation, adaptation or both.
The National Coordinators, Cristián Gutiérrez on behalf of ADAPT Chile and Rodrigo Arias on behalf of the AChM, gave a preview of what is expected for the work of this period with the new national governance structure, which includes the implementation of a series of dissemination, training and joint work activities, alignment of national and local strategies, determination of a roadmap towards COP26, in addition to the incorporation of new members to the NCC.
The members reacted to the proposals and expressed their interest and commitment to the Committee and its agenda. Susana Aguero, Cooperation Officer of the Delegation of the European Union in Chile, reinforced how important it is to support this alliance at a key moment for Chile in the face of climate urgency, and to continue the multilateral and multilevel work, which also reflected the collective spirit shared at the end of the meeting.
Currently, 11 municipalities and one region in Chile are committed members of GCoM. These are: Santiago municipality, Peñalolen, Vitacura, Providencia, Independencia, Temuco, San Pedro de la Paz, Calera de Tango, Cerro Navia, Valparaíso, Maipú and Santiago Metropolitan Region.
Municipalities and local governments committed to the Covenant are agents of change and leaders in climate action. They have access to better opportunities for financing local climate and energy projects, high recognition and international visibility for climate and energy action.
Find out how to join the GCoM! For more information, please visit our website https://pactodealcaldes-la.org/sumese/ or write to us at [email protected].
