ParlAmericas participates in the Inter-Parliamentary Union Regional Seminar on climate change for parliaments of Latin America and the Caribbean
On June 28th, in representation of ParlAmericas, the Honourable Senator Rosa Galvez (Canada), President of the ParlAmericas Parliamentary Network on Climate Change (PNCC), along with the Honourable Manzoor Nadir (Guyana), Speaker of the National Assembly, participated in the panel “Accelerating a clean energy transition and enhancing climate finance to implement the Paris Agreement” during the Regional Seminar on climate change for parliaments of Latin America and the Caribbean. The Seminar was jointly organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the Parliament of Uruguay in Montevideo, Uruguay from June 28-30.
Senator Galvez’s presentation highlighted some of the practices that ParlAmericas and the IPU share in supporting parliaments in their endeavors to advance climate action, as well as the key outcomes from the Interparliamentary Dialogue of the 6th Gathering of the ParlAmericas PNCC, which took place June 23, 2022. The Interparliamentary Dialogue focused on legislative strategies to decarbonize the energy and transportation sectors in a gender responsive and socially inclusive manner. She noted that the Dialogue demonstrated the importance of ensuring that a just and inclusive energy transition considers intersectional approaches to foster women’s participation in the green economy which is often a male-dominated field.
In Senator Galvez’s remarks she also expressed that “with a sound body of international instruments and a regional political agenda to guide climate action, it falls upon decision makers to advance comprehensive and ambitious climate policies that incorporate scientific evidence to strengthen this momentum as we move forward in the road to low emissions. To this end, the PNCC is hosting its 6th gathering. This is the first ParlAmericas parliamentary gathering since the 9th Summit of the Americas, which provides an excellent opportunity to implement its mandate and transform these regional political commitments into legislative action.”
In his presentation, Speaker Nadir spoke about Guyana’s experience in the energy transition, as well as the work of ParlAmericas to support parliaments in their financial and budgetary role to ensure national budgets align with national climate commitments. He highlighted that “ParlAmericas today has the highest number of seats of Caribbean parliamentarians on its Board of Directors, in the Institution’s history. It is the presiding officers of Caribbean parliaments, such as myself, that occupy these seats on the Board – testimony to ParlAmericas’ work both in value and relevance to our reality. As the region work towards a clean energy transition, accelerating the development, deployment, and dissemination of green technologies in accordance with the Glasgow Climate Pact, spaces for parliamentarians to exchange on regional good practices, such as the inter-parliamentary spaces created by ParlAmericas and IPU, are beneficial in ensuring we achieve our targets.” Moreover, he shared resources developed by ParlAmericas, such as the “Primer on Climate Financing” and the recently published “Primer on Development Financing” which describes financial opportunities available in the region and innovative ways to fund sustainable development, considering the implications of development finance for the capital flows and debt levels of a country.
