Event reports
The second edition of the Climate Interviews program was attended by 17 journalists from leading Latin American media - selected from 100 candidates from across the region - who spoke with renowned experts on various key issues in climate change and sustainable development.
The program, organized by ConexiónCOP, an initiative led by Libélula, and El Árbol LAC, a Global Call for Climate Action (GCCA) initiative, with the support of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, aimed to promote the exchange and transfer of knowledge among experts Of the region and Latin American journalists; generate a space for reflection on the options to meet the challenges posed by climate change; strengthen the capacities of journalists in the region to cover climate change issues; and to provide inputs to journalists so that they can approach the subject from diverse perspectives of interest for their readers and to promote the coverage of the subject in their means.
The program was carried out through five virtual dialogue sessions, held between June and October 2016, in a format that allowed journalists to extend questions to high-level experts in the region on climate change and economic development in Latin America, the role of public policies, how to take advantage of climate financing in the region, the transition to renewable energies and the implementation of the Paris Agreement.
Among the invited experts was Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, president of the COP20 and current Climate and Energy Leader of WWF International; Walter Vergara, senior climate and forest specialist at the World Resources Institute (WRI); And Fernando Ferreira, Executive Secretary of the Latin American Energy Organization (OLADE), among others. Participants included journalists from important media in the region from Mexico, Venezuela, Peru, Nicaragua, Uruguay, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Brazil and Bolivia.
In addition, in order to promote journalistic practice and strengthen narratives and discourses on the necessary transitions in climate change, in this second version of the program, participants published articles on the topics covered in the interviews. As a result, more than 30 news items were published in various media in the region, such as La Nación of Costa Rica, La Prensa of Nicaragua, América Noticias of Perú and Los Tiempos of Bolivia.
The program obtained a general evaluation of 4.6 points out of 5. When the journalists were consulted about the contribution of the program to their understanding of the problems of climate change in Latin America, they responded with an average score of 4.8 out of 5.
What journalists say
For Lucydalia Baca from La Prensa of Nicaragua, "the program facilitated access to specialists from different countries, which otherwise we could hardly contact to enrich our stories. In addition, the exchange with colleagues from across the continent broadened the picture about the reality we face. "
Likewise, Michelle Soto from La Nación of Costa Rica considered that the program "was particularly useful for dimensioning and contextualizing efforts being made in my country. Consultation with international experts gave me a frame of reference and, thanks to it, I had more criteria to interview the experts in my country."
Julio López from Onda Local of Nicaragua affirmed that "the program has given me the opportunity to strengthen my knowledge about climate change, which allows to inform in a more timely and simple way".
"The role of journalists is fundamental for the concept of climate change to become something everyday, approach people, and thus create awareness that we will all be affected if we do not achieve a change in mass," said Valeria Sorgato from El Comercio of Ecuador.
Impact on Latin American media
We share some of the news published in the media of Mexico, Venezuela, Peru, Nicaragua, Uruguay, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Bolivia, as well as in international media:
- Costa Rica was supplied only with renewable energy for 110 consecutive days, by Michelle Soto (La Nación, Costa Rica)
- Caribbean islands take the lead in the fight against climate change, by Brigitte Hernández Escalona (El Sol de Margarita, Venezuela)
- Mexico, among the four Latin American countries to receive resources from the Green Climate Fund, by Diana Manzo (Istmo Press, México)
- Chinese investments must meet Paris goals, by Fabiola Ortiz (Diálogo Chino, Latinoamérica, desde Brasil)
- Latin American countries "are not being strategic" when coming for international money to tackle climate change, by María Paz Sartori (Semanario Búsqueda, Uruguay)
- Madre de Dios: In Peru, private carbon credits were purchased, by Gisela Becerra (América Noticias, Perú)
- Inform to understand climate change, by Julio López (Onda Local, Nicaragua)
- It is not enough to produce clean energy, we have to make structural reforms, by Lucydalia Baca Castellón (La Prensa, Nicaragua)
- 100 electric trucks will circulate in corridor of Eje 8 Sur, by Marco Antonio Martínez (Agencia Quadratín, México)
- Funding for Climate Change: "The State plays a fundamental role in determining which activities should be prioritized”, by Marco Minaya (Revista Stakeholders, Perú)
- What to expect from COP22 from Latin America ?, by Tali Santos (ConexiónCOP, Latinoamérica, desde Ecuador)
- The cities are tested by climate change, by Valeria Sorgato (El Comercio, Ecuador)
- Paris Agreement, the challenge of transparency, by Mónica Oblitas (Los Tiempos, Bolivia)
More
They participated as experts on climate change and economic development in Latin America: Walter Vergara, senior climate and forest specialist at the World Resources Institute (WRI), and Luis Fierro, an international development economist, former Finance Advisor Climate for AILAC.
On the subject of public policies and climate change in Latin America, they gave their points of view: Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, former Minister of the Environment of Peru and President of the COP20, and Hernán Carlino, coordinator of the Center for Change Studies Climate of the Torcuato Di Tella Foundation of Argentina.
To answer the question How does climate financing work and how to take advantage of it in Latin America? Participated Andrea Rodríguez, senior lawyer of the Climate Change Program of the NGO AIDA.
On the subject of the transition to renewable energies in Latin America, Fernando Ferreira, Executive Secretary of the Latin American Energy Organization (OLADE), and Claudio Alatorre, senior climate change specialist at the Climate Change and Sustainability Division of the Inter-American Development Bank Development (IDB).
Finally, Patricio Vallespín, Chilean deputy member of the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources of the Chamber of Deputies and the global network Climate Parliament, and Sandra Guzmán, coordinator of the Climate Finance Group for Latin America ( GFLAC), to analyze the road to the implementation of the Paris Agreement.
