Climate Change in Latin America - European Commission

Further more, Spain has also contributed recently
to two new initiatives within the World Bank, where
Latin-American countries could benefit from:
- "Carbon Asset Development Fund" for providing
grants and otherwise supporting technical
assistance to, inter alia participating developing
countries and countries with economies in
transition and to participating public and private
entities located in these countries; the CADF would
provide such grants and technical assistance for
the development of emission reduction programs
and creating the enabling environment to generate
emission reductions;
- "Readiness Mechanism (Readiness Fund)" of
the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility: Under
this mechanism, the Facility intends to assist
developing tropical and sub-tropical countries
prepare themselves to participate in a future,
large-scale system of positive incentives for
Reduction Emissions from Deforestation and
Degradation. This will include, but is not limited
to: (i) determining a national reference scenario
based on historical emissions from deforestation
and degradation and, where needed and feasible,
an assessment of how these emissions would
evolve in the future; (ii) preparing a national REDD
strategy; and (iii) establishing a monitoring system
for emissions from deforestation and forest
degradation.
Finally, another two relevant initiatives where Spain is
also contributing are:
- The recently launched TECH4CDM project.
The main objective of this project, financed by the
European Commission but leaded by the Spanish
Administration, is to promote selected renewable
energy and Energy Efficient technologies in 5 Latin
American countries, Mexico, Ecuador, Peru,
Argentina and Chile, optimising the opportunities
opened by the Clean Development Mechanism,
and identifying potential small and large scale
projects with the aim to support developers and
EU companies to invest in the region.
- The Sustainable Energy and Climate Change
Initiative (SECCI) in the Interamerican Development
Bank: with the aim to support the LAC region
in its urgent challenge to find economically and
environmentally sound energy options. Its core
objectives are to expand the development and use
of renewable energy sources, energy efficiency
technologies and practices, and carbon finance
in the region, as well as to promote and finance
climate change adaptation strategies that reduce
the regions climate vulnerability.
2. Other Spanish activities related to climate
change in LAC region in the field of water and
biodiversity
WATER
Spain is working in the adaptation of water resources
management in a climate change scenario, through the
Conference of Iberoamerican Water Directors (CODIA,
in its Spanish acronym), whose Technical Permanent
Secretariat is responsibility of the Directorate General
for Water (Ministry of Environment, and Rural and
Marine Affairs). In this regard, the CODIA works mainly
on capacity building and institutional reinforcement in
the field of integrated water resources management
in Latin America.
• Background
The CODIA was created as a support body of the
Iberoamerican Forum of Ministers of Environment.
It brings together the responsible agencies for water
management of the 22 Latin American countries.
It does not involve water services operators or private
firms or academic agents, but public institutions and
high-level political officials in each country. The CODIA
represents a space for exchanging views among
water directors of Iberoamerica, where they can share
concerns and responses to the issues and challenges
they face necessarily, such as those associated with
the processes of legal and institutional reform on the
water sector.
Likewise, the importance acquired by CODIA in recent
years should be stressed. It has had the institutional
support from both the Iberoamerican Forum of
Ministers of Environment and the Iberoamerican
Summit of Heads of State and Government. Proof of
this is the adoption of the proposals and major
initiatives of the Conference; "Iberoamerican Water
Programme" and "Iberoamerican Water Training
Programme".
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