Event reports
On the way to the COP21, multiple challenges at different scales are presented: from raising the ambition of the commitments that the countries make to facilitate the conditions for the implementation of the new climate agreement and National Contributions with the articulated work of multiple actors and sectors in national and international spheres. Latin American countries are taking positions from their trading blocks to the development of their INDCs. In this scenario, what is the opinion with respect to the positions of Latin American and Caribbean countries in the national and international sphere? What role should young people take? What role do they want to take?
These were the main guiding questions from August 24th to 29th at the "International Seminar Ambassadors +1: Youth in the governance of climate change" organized by Generación +1, iniciativa de Libélula, and the Regional Programme of Energy Security and Climate Change in Latin America of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Foundation. In addition, it had the support of the Frente Público COP20 / COP21 of the Ministry of Environment of Peru, the United Nations Development Programme; Cambia.pe of the Peruvian Society for Environmental Law, the initiative Clima de Cambios of the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru and the Delegation of the European Union in Peru.
25 young Ambassadors +1, 45 well-known specialists and 150 attendants gathered at the premises of the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru and the United Nations House for attending the international seminar. Ambassadors +1, coming from different regions of Peru, Argentina, Costa Rica, Panama, Paraguay and Venezuela generated a position facing the challenges of ambition and implementation of the climate agreement and the National Contributions, where it was recognized the role that actors, such as universities, schools, youth organizations and municipalities, must take to promote climate actions.
This position was the starting point for the advocacy plan of the Ambassadors +1, whose construction began during the International Seminar and represents its roadmap for the next months towards the COP21. This exercise highlights the importance of perceiving young people as citizens, students, members of youth spaces, consumers, etc., who can exercise their citizenship working proactively with multiple actors of society. To achieve these results, the International Seminar had training open spaces: master lectures, dialogue roundtables and discussions with well-known specialists and leaders.
Some of these spaces were aimed to recognize the challenges, such as the master lecture "A world free of emission, how close are we?" by Karoliina Anttonen of the Ministry of Employment and Economy of Finland, Olivier Guibert of the Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy of France, and Maria Paz Cigaran, General Manager of Libélula. Other spaces were used to recognize the solutions and possible actions regarding climate change, such as the dialogue "Building sustainable and resilient cities" where Jorge Fernandez of the Consulate of Sweden participated with the SimbioCity case, Mariana Alegre, of Lima Cómo Vamos and Ximena Giraldo, of the Municipality of Miraflores.
Furthermore, there was the roundtable "Youth in the governance of climate change" by Gonzalo Alcalde and Pasko Kisic of the International National Forum, Diego Padilla of the Frente Público of the Ministry of Environment and Chris Wright of Adopt a Negotiator; as well as the combined master lecture "Positioning climate change in public opinion" by Jimmy Carrillo of the Peruvian Society for Environmental Law (SPDA) with the Cambia.pe case, and Maite Cigaran of Libélula, with the ConexiónCOP case. The talks, dialogue roundtables and workshops were used to build a shared vision of the development wanted for Latin America and the Caribbean, through the vision of "world +1".
After a week of work, it was achieved to agree on the elements of the position facing the contributions and the new agreement, which is going to be shared in a campaign that will be shorty launched. Also, specialized work groups, which will carry out the plan of advocacy to catalyze further commitments and climate actions with local governments, universities, schools and youth organizations, were formed.
Original Text: Melissa Ingaruca, Generación +1 | Edition: María Fernanda Pineda, KAS
