LAPC to present regional report on public policies on climate and development in Latin America at Rio+20 side event

June 19, 2012

The Latin American Platform on Climate (LAPC) is preparing a Regional Report on the Status and Quality of Public Policies on Climate Change and Development in Latin America, which will be updated every two years for 10 countries in the region. The preliminary report will be presented at the Rio+20 Conference on Friday 22 June 2012 from 13:00 -14:30 in T-6 (RioCentro).

The research findings, which have been discussed in 10 national fora, will be presented at this side event to provide participants with the opportunity to contribute their comments and input to the final version.

The ultimate goal of the report is to provide capacity-building support for public policy makers, negotiating teams, decision makers and civil society in the region in the design and implementation of public policies on climate change and development.

The document analyzes and assesses several political and institutional dimensions of climate change policies, including quality of policy design, implementation level, institutional strength, and political and social support. The study assesses how the dimensions can affect the specific actions arising from public policies on climate change and development. Based on that assessment, the study makes recommendations to improve the design and implementation of better policies in the countries of the region.

The project proposes to integrate the issue of climate change in different areas of development, with emphasis on the AFOLU (Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Uses) sector, to respond more effectively to address the challenges and risks of climate change in the region. Although the report focuses on the agricultural sector, it also includes information about public policies related to climate change in general and is designed in a flexible way to better reflect the different realities of Latin American countries.

The focus of this first report is the AFOLU sector for three reasons:

a) Its importance to the economies and populations of Latin American countries and its link to livelihoods and food security.
b) Agricultural activities have not received the necessary attention in climate change policies aimed at mitigation and adaptation at the national and regional level, despite their considerable contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and importance for adaptation.
c) Public policies for the agricultural sector in Latin America, in general, are not part of the climate change agenda.

The regional report will be presented by:

Daniel Ryan, Technical Research Coordinator

Discussants:

Manuel Rodríguez-Becerra, former Colombian Minister of the Environment

Eduardo Viola, Professor of International Relations, University of Brasilia and Coordinator of the Academic Research Network on International Relations and Climate Change.

Join the LAPC at its event in Rio de Janeiro or watch us online at: www.intercambioclimatico.com