ParlAmericas participates in the Global Virtual Conference on Catalysing Parliamentary Action to Fight Climate Change
The ParlAmericas Parliamentary Network on Climate Change participated in the Global Virtual Conference on Catalysing Parliamentary Action to Fight Climate Change organized by the Inter Pares EU Global Project to Strengthen the Capacity of Parliaments which took place over the course of May 11 and 12, 2021.
This conference aimed to share good European and international practices and lessons learned on parliamentary action on climate change with practitioners and other parliaments around the world and exposed participants to a range of parliamentary innovations on climate change, highlighting the key areas of parliamentary responsibility, including legislation, oversight, representation, and the national budget.
Member of the Legislative Assembly Paola Vega (Costa Rica), Vice-President of the ParlAmericas Parliamentary Network on Climate Change for Central America participated in the session on Regional and Global Parliamentary Action, moderated by Emilie Lemieux, Deputy Director – Open Parliament and Sustainable Development at ParlAmericas. The session also brought together Malini Mehra, CEO of the Global Legislators Organisation for a Balanced Environment (GLOBE) and Michael Scoullos, Secretary-General of the Circle of Mediterranean Parliamentarians for Sustainable Development on the ways through which these networks foster enhanced parliamentary action on environmental issues.
On the challenges currently faced by parliamentarians in the region, Ms. Vega noted that “while the pandemic has taken hold, climate change will not be put on pause; on the contrary its effects can now be doubly catastrophic. In Latin America, we’ve seen a rise in a discourse that has introduced a false opposition between economic development and the environment that needs to be confronted. This is why it’s important that through these spaces and networks for the exchange of knowledge and experiences, we work to raise awareness and provide information to establish priorities and favour an informed evidence-based dialogue.”
For more information on the work carried out by ParlAmericas, visit www.parlamericas.org and follow @ParlAmericas on social media.
