On 27 and 28 January 2022, the Forum of Ministers of Environment of Latin America and the Caribbean marked its 40th anniversary with a special session in Costa Rica. The special session of the Forum aimed to strengthen regional cooperation in the face of the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution.
The session was held in a hybrid format due to the COVID-19 pandemic and more than 23 delegations headed by environment ministers and high-level authorities joined the session virtually and in person.
As part of the two-day event, the delegations discussed ways to promote the integrated implementation of the multilateral environmental agreements, in a discussion with the executive secretaries of the United Nations conventions that regulate international action on climate change, biological diversity, desertification and pollution.
On day one, Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC, shared reflections on the challenges and opportunities for the implementation of Multilateral Environmental Agreements.
The three reflections that she outlined were that:
- The national execution of the commitments must be the priority in this and in the coming years.
- There is an urgent and pressing need for action on all levels of decision making, and the principal responsibility lies with those in positions of authority.
- The UNFCCC secretariat is available to support climate action in the countries to reach their goals.
Despite having a clear, coherent, and complete international regime on climate change after many years of efforts including a fruitful discussion and outcome at COP26, according to Ms. Espinosa, there are still a lot to deliberate and to decide, especially in translating commitments into actions.
By iterating the importance of execution, Ms. Espinosa emphasized a national responsibility in ensuring that the laws and administrative regulations, public policies and government programs, strategies and work plans of both public entities and private companies are consistent with the commitments assumed by the countries.
Given that the opportunity costs of our inaction to reduce emissions and promote the resilience of the society are measured in damages and losses that could have been avoided, Ms. Espinosa urged the Ministers of Environment of the region to act on this urgent and pressing issue of fighting climate change.
“There is no more room for patience or passivity, being Minister of Environment in the midst of this climate crisis, is like being a firefighter in front of a house on fire. There is no other option but to intervene urgently to rescue that home. In this case, it is home to all of us”, she said.
Concluding her speech, Ms. Espinosa reminded the audience that the UNFCCC secretariat, with mandate of turning aspirations into achievement and transforming words into actions, is available to provide advice and assistance to countries in fulfilling their commitments.
Video recording is accessible in Spanish.