The European Union and Latin America and the Caribbean expand collaboration on climate policies

Guatemala has become the epicenter of climate collaboration between the European Union and Latin America and the Caribbean. Representatives of the 33 countries that are part of Euroclima, the European Union’s flagship program for cooperation in the fight against climate change and the protection of biodiversity, have held their Annual Meeting at the Spanish Cooperation Training Center in Antigua. The meeting served to share the achievements of the program over the past year and discuss priority actions to be implemented during 2024.  

The Annual Meeting in Guatemala has been a key moment to review methodologies, share lessons learned and set new sectorial and temporal objectives that allow progress towards the ultimate goal of the program, to contribute to the green and equitable transition in the Latin America and Caribbean region. That is, towards carbon neutral, resilient, risk-informed, nature-integrated, circular, sustainable, inclusive and equitable economies. 

“The consequences of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution are becoming increasingly serious. During the EU-CELAC Summit in July 2023, the European Union and our Latin American and Caribbean partners committed to redouble our efforts to jointly address this global challenge. That is why, in order to address this existential threat to life on our planet, we are expanding the geographical and thematic scope of the Euroclima program,” said EU Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen.  

The Commissioner was represented in Guatemala by the Director for Latin America and the Caribbean of the European Commission’s Directorate General for International Partnerships, Felix Fernandez-Shaw, who included the Annual Meeting of the Euroclima program as one of the key moments of his mission to Guatemala. The full agenda of his visit included meetings with representatives of the government of President Bernardo Arévalo, who took office last January, and visits to the country’s territories to evaluate possible initiatives financed by the investment agenda of the European Global Gateway Strategy, such as the Motagua River basin. 

This first mission of the Directorate General for International Partnerships to Guatemala following the inauguration of the new government was attended by representatives of development banks, international financial institutions and cooperation implementing agencies of the Member States of the European Union.   

The Minister of the Environment and Natural Resources of Guatemala, María José Iturbide, declared that “this alliance with the European Union is of great benefit to Guatemala, specifically under the Euroclima regional cooperation program, with whom we are implementing a series of projects that will benefit the Guatemalan population”. 

During the meeting, the Minister of the Environment explained that the strategic axes and key measures have been introduced to create a National Strategy for the Transition to a Circular Economy in Guatemala. In addition, “progress is being made in the implementation of the Strategic Plan for the Sustainable Biological Corridor – Punta de Manabique and Cuyamel-Omoa Wildlife Refuge, a binational effort that includes the participation of Honduras,” she said. He also noted that they continue to seek to expand collaborations with the Euroclima Program, with the objective of ensuring that all parties involved comply with their commitments to environmental sustainability and climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts. 

Since its inception in 2010, the Euroclima program has launched more than 260 initiatives with partner countries. Some initiatives have driven large-scale national projects (such as the development of long-term climate strategies, climate change legislation, gender and climate change action plans, among many others), others were designed as localized pilot projects with the potential to be replicated in other territories (such as the electrification of the “tuk-tuk” fleet in Chimaltenango or the management of urban waters in the Marquense Valley in Guatemala; the urban bicycle network in Guadalajara, Mexico; or the development of Regional Climate Change Action Plans in Chile).  

Cultural Exhibit “AJKANUL, who protects the forest“

The closed-door program of the Euroclima Annual Meeting is complemented by an activity open to the public of Antigua and visitors to the city. The exhibition “AJKANUL who protects the forest” is a cultural exhibition that aims to make visible some of the actions of this flagship program of the European Union, in the various sectoral areas in which it works, in different countries of Latin America, as well as regionally.  

The exhibition aims to offer the viewer a look at the work developed by the Euroclima Program through different formats (photography, video and virtual reality), connecting it with the Mayan cosmovision on the protection of nature through a journey through different Mayan nahuales (symbolic animals that represent protective spirits). 

The aim is to raise awareness of the impacts of climate change on different territories, living environments and productive sectors in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as the mitigation and adaptation actions that the program has developed since its inception in cooperation with the governments of the countries of the region. The exhibition will be open from Wednesday, March 6 through May 31 and can be visited from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Spanish Cooperation Training Center in Antigua.