ParlAmericas organized the second meeting of its Parliamentary Staff Network on Climate Change
Parliamentary staff representatives from legislatures in the Americas and the Caribbean participated in the 2nd Meeting of the ParlAmericas Parliamentary Staff Network on Climate Change (PNCC-Staff) to discuss ways in which technical parliamentary work can contribute to ensuring compliance with environmental and climate change agreements at the national and international levels. The event was held virtually with over 50 participants.
The meeting began with opening remarks by Frédéric Forge (Canada), Senior Director of the International Affairs and Integrated Reference Services Division of the Library of Parliament and General Coordinator of the PNCC-Staff. Next, Laura Prado Chacón (Costa Rica), Advisor of the Executive Directorate of the Legislative Assembly, moderated a panel featuring Juan Carlos Villalonga, President of GLOBE Legislators, and Nadia Manning-Thomas, UN Women Planning and Coordination Specialist for Barbados and the OECS with responsibility for the EnGenDER project. Presentations by the panellists emphasized the relevance of incorporating gender and human rights perspectives into legal frameworks and policies linked to environmental issues and disaster risk reduction and highlighted the role of parliamentary staff and their technical expertise in advancing the alignment of national legislative efforts with key multilateral environmental treaties, including the Sendai Framework, the Paris Agreement, and the 2030 Agenda.
Afterwards, Brian B. Caesar (Trinidad and Tobago), Clerk of the Senate; Juan Manuel Moreira (Argentina), Director General for Environment and Sustainable Development of the Chamber of Deputies and contact person for the PNCC-Staff; and María Victoria Lumaca (Uruguay), Technical Secretary of the Senate Committee on the Environment and focal point for the PNCC-Staff, shared their national progress on environmental and climate commitments from a parliamentary staff perspective. The presentations covered lessons learned from consultations by the Senate Committee on Land and Physical Infrastructure of Trinidad and Tobago on the country’s measures to address climate change related challenges; the implementation process and the progress and impact of Argentina’s Yolanda Law; and strategies for promoting citizen participation in the work of the Senate Committee on the Environment of Uruguay.
To conclude the meeting, Alisha Todd, Director General of the International Secretariat of ParlAmericas, presented Mapping Strategies and Plans of the Americas and the Caribbean, a repository developed by ParlAmericas that compiles and synthesizes environment and sustainability related plans and strategies that have been adopted by countries of the hemisphere.
