Climate Change in Latin America - European Commission

El Salvador
International commitments
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change, signed in 1992, ratified in 1995.
Kyoto Protocol, signed in 1998, ratified in 1998.
Legal Structure
The Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Recursos
Naturales (Ministry of the Environment and Natural
Resources) (MARN) is the National Focal Point for the
UNFCCC and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC), and the Designated National Authority
for the KP.
Functions
Monitoring compliance with Climate Change commitments
from international treaties.
Create and oversee the application of a National
Climate Change Plan and of national inventories of
greenhouse gases.
Integrate Climate Change in the strategic environmental
evaluation and in the environmental code to be
incorporated into all government policies, plans and
programmes, as well as in the risk studies that form
part of environmental impact studies. Ensure that
Climate Change is integrated into national and regional
territorial development plans, by incorporating in
these plans programmes and measures for mitigation
(reduction of emissions) and adaptation (prevention
and reduction of climate vulnerability).
Within the framework of the Government Programme
2009-2014, MARN has adopted Climate Change
mitigation and adaptation as a priority policy,
which includes different strategic guidelines linked
to the policies of risk reduction and sustainable land
management.
Human resources
Within MARN there are 4 officials responsible for
overseeing the application of the UNFCCC and of the
KP and financed by the government's budget. Three
of these officials carry out work at a technical level
and another works in the political field as an advisor
on the issue of Climate Change.
At the technical level, two officials work full time,
one dedicated to the issue of adaptation to Climate
Change and the other to the issue of mitigation,
including the mechanisms of flexibility, which for
now is limited to CDM. Within the climate prediction
unit of Meteorological Services, one expert works
part time focusing on observation of the climate, its
variability and changes. The political advisor oversees
international, inter-institutional and intersectoral
aspects of the issue, including the application of
the UNFCCC and KP, as well as the orientation and
technical oversight of the institutional team.
Financing
Every year the government of El Salvador designates
part of the national or municipal public budget to the
payment of the amounts necessary to finance the
UNFCCC and the permanent or temporary public
officials who focus on oversight of this instrument
and the KP.
In this context El Salvador has obtained financing
to comply with several of its commitments, such
as the creation of national communications and the
execution of projects supporting national inventories
of greenhouse gases, evaluations of vulnerability and
climate impacts, the analysis of mitigation alternatives
in different sectors and sources of emissions, and
proposals for policies, plans, programs and measures
related to the issues of mitigation, adaptation and
technology transfer.
National Climate Change Plan
Within the framework of the current 2nd National
Communication, a National Climate Change Plan is
being developed, in accordance with the mandate
derived from the Environmental Law. For these
purposes all the previous required studies as well
those complementary to the information generated in
the framework of the 1st National Communication and
from other related initiatives are being developed.
The National Plan of Climate Change will set
guidelines for the national portion relating to regional
climate change strategy, currently in the initial stages
of creation.
One of MARN's priority work strategies is interinstitutional
sustainable environmental management,
which is being implemented in various parts of the
country. Along these lines initiatives related to the
issue of Climate Change will be integrated in both the
fields of mitigation and adaptation, with consulting,
discussion and planning at the level of political
decision-making and by means of interdisciplinary
work teams. Both these aspects are to be interinstitutional
in nature.
International Coordination
El Salvador is part of the UNFCCC and KP. In this
capacity it participates directly in multilateral Climate
Change activities. Together with UN agencies,
bilateral and multilateral organisations, environmental
NGOs, associations of native peoples, municipal
associations, scientific entities (such as the IPCC
and other centres of research and technological
development), it coordinates its actions internationally
with those of other Parties and agents involved
in these multilateral processes, which are geared
towards observing the processes of Climate Change
and supporting and facilitating actions taken by the
Parties.
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