EU and LAC Reaffirm and Expand Collaboration on Climate Policies at Euroclima Annual Meeting

LA, ANTIGUA, Guatemala – Fourteen Caribbean countries are being represented at the three-day Euroclima annual meeting that opened here on Tuesday, discussing ways to combat climate change and protect biodiversity in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) regions.

Euroclima  is the European Union’s flagship programme and it is the first annual meeting since the integration of 14 additional Caribbean countries into the programme that brings the 33 Euroclima stakeholders together to review the achievements of the past year and discuss priority actions for 2024.

The organisers said that the meeting provides an opportunity to review methodologies, share lessons learned and chart new sectoral objectives and timelines for achieving the core purpose of the programme, contributing to a green and just transition for Latin America and the Caribbean.

“The consequences of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution are becoming increasingly serious. During the EU-CELAC Summit in July 2023, the European Union and our Latin American and Caribbean partners committed to boost efforts to tackle this global challenge together,” said European Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen.

“ That is why we are widening both the geographic and thematic scope of the Euroclima Programme to confront this existential threat to life on our planet,” Urpilainen added.

Euroclima made important progress in 2023 thanks to three key milestones, which included the  Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago into the programme.

The second pivotal moment was the relaunching of relations between the European Union and Latin American and the Caribbean during the EU-CELAC Summit in July, while the third milestone saw the launch of the EU-LAC Global Gateway Investment Agenda, which will allow Euroclima to drive better climate policies, as well as facilitate ambitious green infrastructure projects in the region.

“As long-standing partners in the LAC region, we are excited to witness the expansion of Euroclima to the wider Caribbean and the opportunities to build on the ongoing regional support under a number of initiatives,” said the European Union’s Ambassador to Barbados, the Eastern Caribbean States, the OECS and CARICOM/CARIFORUM, Malgorzata Wasilewska.

“Euroclima provides the opportunity to streamline our efforts and strengthen the Team Europe approach in a collaborative way. It draws on the unique expertise that EU Members States can offer to address the triple planetary crisis. More importantly, the programme offers the opportunity of leveraging private investments to ensure the scalability and sustainability of EU climate action in the framework of the Global Gateway Investment Agenda,” she added.

Since its creation in 2010, the Euroclima Programme has launched more than 260 initiatives with partner countries.

Some initiatives have driven large-scale national projects, such as the development of long-term climate strategies, climate change legislation, gender and climate change action plans, among many others.

Since 2010, the European Union has approved an amount of Euro 265 million for Euroclima.