|  | | Welcome to the
Sustainability Dispatch
Brought to you by the Environment and Climate Change (EC2) Program |
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|  | A Letter from our Policy Director Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Latin America is experiencing the biggest economic contraction in its modern history, bringing with it a wide range of socio-economic challenges, including rising unemployment, growing levels of poverty and, in some cases, sovereign debt default. At the same time, land pressures, environmental risks and emerging climate-related challenges and extreme weather events are on the rise across Latin America, putting the region’s rich natural capital and biodiversity at peril. This translates into a latent risk to the entire region’s economic growth. In spite of these challenges, Latin America has a unique opportunity to grow its way out of the current situation by better leveraging the green and blue economies, including exporting renewable energy (e.g., hydrogen), reviving regional coastal economies tied to environmentally responsible tourism and sustainable fisheries, and through the production and exports of environmentally friendly products. Established in early 2021, the Institute of the Americas’ Environment & Climate Change (EC2) program looks to catalyze private sector-led sustainable financing, expanded exports, and responsible tourism and investment in Latin America by pro-actively working to empower a future generation of Latin business, public sector and civil society leaders committed to seizing the current COVID-19 moment to position their respective institutions and communities towards a more sustainable future. Over the past several months, the EC2 program has established a strong partnership with UC San Diego’s Center for US-Mexican Studies to collaborate on different initiatives. It has also created strong ties with climate scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, through the Gulf of California Marine Program (GCMP) that was merged into the IOA in June 2021. Our EC2 program also works closely with IOA’s Energy & Sustainability (E&S) program, through research and public programming on issues related to the energy transition. A little over a year after our Program’s inception, we wish to reach your inbox once every two months through a brief e-newsletter, to let you know about our work and publications, future events, related news, and tools and articles that can be of interest. We’d love to hear from you as well; feel free to send us ideas, comments, and suggestions. This first edition is a bit long, as I have to introduce the program, and our great (albeit small) team. But bear with me, as the next ones will be shorter. I really hope you find our work interesting and please stayed tuned! 
Tania Miranda, EC2 Policy Director. |
| | | Together with Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Pronatura Noroeste, the UC San Diego Center for U.S-Mexican Studies, Defensa Ambiental del Noroeste, and Wilcoast/Costasalvaje, the Las California Blue Carbon Initiative explores innovative finance mechanisms and cross-border, nature-based market solutions to protect coastal ecosystems shared by California and the Baja California Peninsula, that at the same time provide options for binational climate action. An interactive story map and complimentary reports are included for further background on both the Mexican and Californian perspectives of key species, sites, and potential sources of funding. |
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| | | Launched in 2021, alongside Brookings Institution, the Initiative on Sustainable Development Goals at the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, and the UC San Diego Center for U.S-Mexican Studies, the US-Mexico Climate Change Working Group brings together Mexican and U.S. experts to identify areas of cooperation and propose concrete recommendations to advance pressing climate issues ranging from energy efficiency to climate adaptation. You can read our Final Report in both English and Spanish here. |
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| | | | | Authored by the EC2 program’s non-resident fellow, Soffia Alarcón-Díaz, with contributions from Tania Miranda, a 3-part series of short documents discussing hot topics on sustainability and ESG issues is set to be published beginning this month! The first one, recently published, focuses on Scope 3 Emissions disclosure, the new proposed regulation by the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), and its potential effect on exporting Small and Medium Enterprises from Latin America. You can download it here! |
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| | Coming Soon! - Publication in Spanish of our Emissions and Effluents from Cruise Ships in the Bay of La Paz, Mexico From January 2020 to June White Paper, along with a 4-minute video capsule. - Spanish Version of the Las Californias Blue Carbon Initiative Final Summary Report
Environmental impacts in the region with the goal of protecting its rich marine and land-based natural capital.
Read English version here |
| | | | During May 16th and 17th, the Argentina Energy Roundtable organized by the Energy & Sustainability team of the IOA, will return in person in Buenos Aires at the Alvear Palace Hotel. Along with our partner, el Centro de Estudios de la Actividad Regulatorio Energética (CEARE), we hope to create a forum to evaluate the energy perspectives of the country, policy proposals, and the development of projects. You can register here. |
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| With our partners at Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy, on June 1-3 we will virtually convene policymakers and business/civic leaders with top researchers and scientists from Pacific coastal nations to discuss emerging environmental and climate issues that these countries face. We will hold discussions on marine protected areas and nature-based solutions, regional collaboration towards sustainable fisheries, the energy transition and deep decarbonization, and more. Don’t miss the chance to listen to top government officials from across the Americas and get a scoop from cutting edge science surrounding these topics. You can register now here. |
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| Relevant EC2-related Headlines April 4th, 2022 Finalized during the 14th session of Working Group III and the 56th Session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC), the 6th Assessment Report on mitigation was released and focuses on means of strengthening the global response to climate-related threats. April 11th, 2022 The river that supplies the city of Santiago, Chile has reached critical levels following the 13th year of drought in the country, forcing the government to take the unprecedented steps of rationing the water supplies. The plan features a four-tier alert system that includes different water-reducing measures for the entire Santiago Metropolitan area. April 18th, 2022 The Mexican government has failed to pass the bill regarding the president’s electricity reform which would have allowed the government more control over the nation’s electric generation. Proponents of the bill argued that it would have given Mexico more energy independence, while critics feared it would push back environmental efforts. April 19th, 2022 The Colombian Ministry of Environment has announced they have successfully conserved 260,110 hectares of land through their Payments for Environmental Services Program. This strategy has been greatly successful and has exceeded its initial targets by 33%. April 20-22, 2022 The 12-state parties met for the first time at the Conference of the Parties to the Escazu Agreement a with the presence of over 780 delegates. The agreement is the first regional environmental treaty in Latin America and the Caribbean and the first in the world to protect environmental defenders. The meeting ended with the parties reaffirming the importance of multilateral cooperation in sustainable development and environmental conservation efforts. |
| Geeky yet Cool Tool of the Month:
The Carbon Footprint Calculator Individual actions can certainly help alleviate the climate crisis; every grain of salt counts! A carbon footprint refers to the amount of greenhouse gasses an individual or entity emits, and calculating it is key to identify the activities that pollute the most. We encourage you to find out your own carbon footprint with this calculator created by The Nature Conservancy, and find ways to reduce it! After calculating your carbon footprint, we dare you to post your result along with one action you will take to reduce it and tag the Institute of the Americas! Inspire your friends to join the challenge and take steps to live more sustainably. |
| | | Tania Miranda Director of Policy & Stakeholder Engagement |
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Catalina López-Sagástegui Director, Gulf of California Marine Program |
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| | Jonah Harris Part-time EC2 Program Associate |
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EC2 Non-Resident Fellow Soffia Alarcon-Diaz Associate Director, Americas, Sustainability Business at Schneider Electric |
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| The Institute of the Americas’ Environment & Climate Change Program (EC2) strives to catalyze climate leadership amongst the private sector and local/regional governments in the Americas to promote sustainable growth, tackle climate change and minimize environmental impacts in the region, with the ultimate goal of protecting its rich marine and land-based natural capital. 
The Gulf of California Marine Program (GCMP) is a special programmatic initiative of the EC2 Program that promotes conservation and sustainable management through multidisciplinary approaches, focusing on generating, analyzing, and sharing scientific information with stakeholders and policymakers involved in shaping coastal and marine policy. Priority areas include blue carbon, marine pollution, marine protected area effectiveness and fisheries assessments. The GCMP merged with the Institute of the Americas in June of 2021. |
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858-453-5560 | info@iamericas.org |
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