Panama sending mega team to climate conference

PANAMA will be sending a mega delegation to the upcoming Climate Change conference which opens in Paris on November 30 as part, of  the “Alliance for Rainforest Nations”, comprising 52 countries which wants the role of forests to be included in the Paris agreement.

Vice Minister of Multilateral Affairs and Cooperation, Maria Luisa Navarro, said that for more than 12 months they have worked to achieve a consensus on the position of the group  hoping that  world leaders will  recognize that to meet the target of keeping the temperature rise below 2° C the protection and conservation of forests  is essential

Tropical forests, said  the deputy minister, “are a carbon sink” and the world’s forests, absorbs 62% of CO2 although their deforestation and degradation “account for 10% of annual global emissions.”

She said that Panama, which chairs the group, leads by example, because it is the only country to incorporate in its national strategy of government compliance with the components of protection, conservation, restoration and forest management.

Tthis mechanism not only contributes to achieving the MDGs but  improves the quality of life of Panamanians and future generations she said.
It would be “inconsistent” -in the Summit involving 195 nations ends without agreement after all the expectations that have been created. “Two months ago in New York, UN countries committed to the sustainable development agenda that has as transversal axis the environment. It would be inconsistent to say now that we are not as committed to climate change.”
Minister of the Environment, Mirei Endara, said achieving the goal of putting at the center of negotiations the conservation of tropical forests and including it in the final agreement, translates into new opportunities for development and financing countries like Panama with tropical forests, represent a reservoir for the country and the planet.

The agreement to close in Paris should replace the Kyoto Protocol, adopted in 1997, marking the road map in the fight against climate change and the emission of greenhouse gases reports the EFE News Agency/

Panama Delegation
The national delegation will participate in more than 30 alternative summit meetings, at which draft national strategy on climate change as the Alliance will be presented by one million hectares and 10 Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) to identify international financing to help carry out the projects.
The delegation led by  President, Juan Carlos Varela, Minister of Environment, Mirei Endara and Vice Minister of Multilateral Affairs and Cooperation, Maria Luisa Navarro will consist of officials from the Foreign Ministry, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Education, Panama Canal Authority The National Secretariat of Energy of Panama Metro, the Humid Tropics of Latin America Center,  of Panama Mayor Jose I Blandon, the Technological University of Panama, Natura Foundation, two members of the Committee on Environment and the Guna General Congress.