June 2021. – Profonanpe, Peru's environmental fund, together with the Latin American and Caribbean Network of Environmental Funds (REDLAC), organized the virtual event "Latin America Acts 2021: United Against Climate Change" on Wednesday, June 30. This event brought together environmental funds and organizations from Latin America to exchange experiences and discuss challenges related to monitoring, safeguards, and communications, and to propose innovative ideas for strengthening project management in these areas.
Representatives of environmental funds and organizations from Peru, Mexico, El Salvador, and Panama reaffirmed their commitment to establishing clear rules of the game with an environmental agenda that involves citizens more, developing strategies in impact zones; with a gender focus, with concern for public health, safety, and respect for human rights.
At the event, which addressed the challenges of the 2030 global environmental agenda, Gabriel Quijandría, Peru's Minister of the Environment, also participated. He emphasized the importance of having a forum for exchange and joint growth among environmental funds in Latin America and the Caribbean. "Undoubtedly, discussions like those held at this event on safeguards and communications are extremely relevant for improving management. It is important to see how to re-establish a functional relationship with nature, something we hope will be fully clear and explicit in our planning and implementation of development policies. We must understand nature as a partner and a fundamental ally in generating well-being," he stated.
For his part, Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, CEO and president of GEF and former Minister of the Environment of Costa Rica, called on environmental funds to communicate their projects more effectively to citizens and governments in each country, as well as to maintain constant dialogue with beneficiaries. He also reflected on the working methods in the countries where they invest, which, he stated, must respect the human rights of communities and have clear public policies in favor of environmental conservation. «I have no doubt that conservation funds help rural and indigenous communities prosper through more sustainable management of their natural resources. We share this commitment to respecting human rights, transparency, and accountability, and we also share this commitment to efficient management and the technical capacity to monitor what we do,» he said.
Finally, Anton Willems, CEO of Profonanpe, invited the participating organizations to continue exchanging experiences so that environmental fund leaders can be inspired by the success stories of other countries when developing strategies in favor of the environment.
