Latin America promotes the monitoring and evaluation of climate policies

A new exchange session of the Community of Practice for the Monitoring and Evaluation of Climate Policies (COP M&E) has been held, in which the EUROCLIMA+ European cooperation programme, through FIIAPP, and the  LEDS LAC regional platform participate, the latter network working on the promotion, design and implementation of Resilient and Low Emission Development Strategies (LEDS) in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The session continues the initiative Community of Practice for the Monitoring and Evaluation of Climate Policies, which since 2018 has worked on the monitoring and evaluation of climate policies and their action plans, addressing the needs identified in the countries of the region in order to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the adaptation and mitigation processes, as well as to incorporate new information and lessons learned and to be able to transparently report the degree of compliance achieved by the different countries in multilateral agreements related to the fight against climate change, such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement, among others.

This session, the fifteenth held, focused on the institutional arrangements (laws, norms and institutions necessary) for the correct monitoring and evaluation of climate policies in the region.

The introductory presentation was made by Beatriz García-Pozuelo of FIIAPP/EUROCLIMA+, who discussed the main findings related to the governance of M&E arising from the support that is provided to four countries in the region in designing or strengthening monitoring systems for climate policies: Costa Rica (National Adaptation Policy), El Salvador (Monitoring system of its first NDC), Uruguay (Health and Tourism Sectors Monitoring System) and Chile (Indicator System of its NCCAP). Nico Kohlhas of the Ministry of Environment of Chile and Sioux Melo of the National Planning Directorate of Colombia also added the specific perspective of their two countries on the matter.

The session, which was held remotely due to the COVID19 pandemic, was attended by 35 members of the COP with ties to the Ministries of Environment of the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. The event favoured the intervention and exchange of experiences of the different attendees in terms of M&E of climate policies and in terms of institutional arrangements to carry them out.

One of the main conclusions of the meeting was that, although there are many efforts to develop and implement M&E systems for climate policies, it is still necessary to go one step further to involve the different institutions, sectors and levels that participate in climate monitoring exercises.

About EUROCLIMA+ 

EUROCLIMA+ is a programme funded by the European Union to promote environmentally sustainable and climate-resilient development in 18 Latin American countries, especially for the benefit of the most vulnerable populations. The programme is implemented through the synergistic work of seven agencies: Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), French Development Agency (AFD), Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), GmbH, Expertise France (EF), UN Environment and FIIAPP.