Event reports
The Regional Programme Energy Security and Climate Change in Latin America (EKLA-KAS) has realigned its work level at the beginning of this year, when the transfer of its headquarters to Lima, Peru. An important task of the Regional Programme is to strengthen the capabilities of parliaments of Latin American states on energy and climate policy. In this context, the parties which are traditional partners of KAS assume a more important role. However, local "think tanks" also play an essential role of consulting and positioning the political parties.
Within Latin America, EKLA has developed various activities, in particular regarding the interrelationship between climate and energy policies. Through events focused on networking training, conferences and studies, knowledge has been processed and fed into supraregional dialogues. Regular involvement of international experts, many of Germany, already contributes to increasing the presence of a transnational perspective in the work of these "think tanks". The participation of Latin American specialists of "think tanks" in seminars in Berlin was held to deepen this approach. In this sense, the dialogue program focused on activities regarding the German practice of scientific policy advice or pure policy advice. In addition, teachers' networks could be strengthened in Germany and Latin America.
Due to the climate policy leadership of Germany and its energy transition policy, the seat of government in Berlin has developed into a scenario of diverse "think tanks" aimed at policy advice. The KAS is heavily involved in this local network and maintains close contacts with politicians active in their area. The participation of Latin American experts in these seminars intended to present the German model of technical cooperation and encourage the exchange of experiences among experts. In addition, the aim is to allow a transatlantic dialogue on climate and energy policy issues, through the engagement of the Latin American group in dialogue with industry stakeholders, civil society, politicians and academics.
Besides the visit to Berlin, there was a second part of the program in Paris during the first week of COP21. KAS is accredited by the UNFCCC as a non-governmental organization, and follows for more than four years, the annual global climate change negotiations. This involvement is conducted by the KAS to follow supranational challenges and integrate them in its international policy advice. With the participation of Latin American delegation, KAS aims to present the activities on climate policies that are carried out at the multilateral level. In close collaboration with the office of KAS in Paris, France's role as host of the COP21 and the close cooperation between Germany and France in existing foreign policy were also discussed.