Uruguay, 20 August 2018 – The United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC), in collaboration with the Technology Executive Committee (TEC) of UNFCCC and the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI), hosted a workshop on South-South and Technological Cooperation for Climate Action and Sustainable Development during the Latin American and Caribbean Climate Week in Montevideo, Uruguay on 20 August 2018. This important event convened Member States, international and inter-governmental organizations, and non-State actors to highlight climate actions through South-South and technology cooperation.
Highlighting the three primary goals for the international community in the context of addressing climate change, i.e. implementation of the Paris Agreement by finalizing its work programme; acceleration of the climate ambitions before 2020; and reflection of these ambitions in the next round of Nationally Determined Contributions, Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of UNFCCC, in her video message to the event, set the stage for the participants to discuss successful stories of South-South and Triangular cooperation, including technological cooperation; relevant lessons learned and potential for replicability; and concrete and practical ways forward to enhance South-South and Triangular cooperation to combat climate change and to achieve sustainable development.
Underscoring the already happening South-South climate cooperation in the Latin American and the Caribbean region, Jorge Chediek, Director of UNOSSC and the Secretary-General’s Envoy on South-South Cooperation, emphasized the critical role the LAC region is playing in the global and regional cooperation to combat climate change. He invited parties to participate and contribute to the United Nations High-Level Conference on South-South cooperation to be held on the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of the adoption of the Buenos Aires Plan of Action (BAPA) in March 2019 in Argentina in order to discuss how South-South cooperation can help implement 2030 Agenda.
Marcos Regis da Silva, Executive Director of IAI as the co-organizer of the workshop, stressed that Latin America and the Caribbean as a region has rich scientific expertise and knowledge. South-South cooperation provides the means to optimize use if these resources in a mutually beneficial approach. It also offers opportunities for the use of these resources in the development of a regional strategy to meet the challenges posed by climate and other global changes.
During the workshop, Member States, UN entities and other IGOs, sub-national actors and the wider civil society groups were invited to present their experiences on South-South and Triangular cooperation, including technological cooperation, discuss relevant lessons learned and potential for replicability, and explore concrete and practical ways forward to enhance South-South and Triangular cooperation to combat climate change and to achieve sustainable development. The meeting has successfully engaged relevant stakeholders from developing countries in the Latin American and Caribbean region to enhance their understanding, awareness and support on South-South climate cooperation, and to share experiences and to exchange insights on ways of moving forward.
Participants highlighted the growing capacities in the South and huge potentials of SSC to contribute to the implementation of the Paris Agreement and the Nationally Determined Contributions of developing countries. They also suggest ongoing and future SSC efforts to be built upon these existing foundations while continue to strengthen capacities in developing countries. Meanwhile, experts widely agree that SSC provides an opportunity to bring multi-stakeholders together, as has been demonstrated by participants in the LAC region, particularly the subnational-actors, in developing sustainable projects to drive environment and climate progress and to achieve sustainable development.
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Media contact
Ms. Ajita Singh (ajita.singh@undp.org), Analyst, Climate and Sustainability Programme, UNOSSC
Mr. Mithre Sandrasagra (mithre.sandrasagra@undp.org), Strategic Communications Advisor, UNOSSC
