Different governmental actors and countries presented their experiences of integration in this activity, to face the challenges posed by climate change. Among them, the Platform for Climate Action in Agriculture in Latin America and the Caribbean (PLACA) and the Soil Alliance for Latin America and the Caribbean (ASLAC) stood out.
The objective of the event was to promote the exchange of experiences based on existing cooperation mechanisms in the region and to influence sectoral integration between the environment and agriculture as a prelude to the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27).
The opening ceremony was led by FAO Regional Director for LAC, Mario Lubetkin, who explained the importance of strengthening cooperation to improve the resilience of agriculture to climate change, through partnerships that support the most vulnerable population.
He was followed by Karla Mena, Director of Agricultural Extension of Costa Rica, who addressed the organisation and work of PLACA as a collaborative initiative between countries for the implementation of climate change mitigation and adaptation measures in the agricultural sector, promoting interaction between key actors.
The Minister of Environment of Chile, Maisa Rojas, commented on the intersectoral articulation between the Ministries of Agriculture and Environment in the country, reviewing the history of joint work of both institutions on climate change and adaptation in the forestry and agriculture sector, highlighting the national plans and strategies for climate change and biodiversity, some developed with international funding.
Julián Báez, Director of the Regional Office of the World Meteorological Organization, presented the results of the publication "The State of the Climate in Latin America and the Caribbean (2021)", highlighting that the current scenario implies a significant increase in extreme weather events, such as floods, mega droughts, forest fires and heat waves. He also commented on the Global Report on Early Warning Systems.
Sol Ortiz, Director General of Policy, Prospecting and Climate Change of the Ministry of Agriculture and Development of the Government of Mexico and President of ASLAC, outlined the objectives of this Alliance and its technical networks to function.
He said that the main activities carried out have been seminars, technical documents, development of soil maps, the configuration of soil laboratory networks (both national and Latin American), the capacity building programme "Soil Doctors" and the "World Soil Day", where 130 events were held in LAC alone.
Finally, on behalf of the Executive Secretariat of the Central American Commission for Environment and Development (CCAD), Raúl Artiga presented the objectives and main advances of the regional initiative "Building Resilience in the SICA region under a synergistic approach between mitigation and adaptation, focusing on the Agriculture, Forestry and other Land Uses (AFOLU) sector", with which the Intersectoral Technical Working Group has been consolidated and pilot projects have been identified to implement adaptation and mitigation measures in the prioritised territories in different countries.
The execution of the webinar Regional Dialogue: cooperation and opportunities to strengthen climate action in agriculture, allowed progress on the project objectives and was simultaneously broadcast on the event page on the FAO website and the official Youtube and Twitter channels in both English and Spanish.
