Officials of Government Antigua and Barbuda are among the 100 plus delegates
currently attending the Euroclima Annual Meeting in La Antigua, Guatemala. The
Country officially signed on to Euroclima in November 2023, following the
European Union’s expansion of the 15-year-old Latin American-focused
Programme to include the Caribbean region, with a launch event in May of 2023.
Antigua and Barbuda is being represented by Juray Roberts, from the Office of the
National Authorising Officer and Christa-Joy Burton of the Department of the
Environment. Both departments are designated as the focal points which will
coordinate involvement in the Programme from a national standpoint.
The Euroclima Programme supports the improvement of resilience to climate
change of ecosystems and vulnerable communities, including women, youth, and
indigenous populations through the implementation of demand-driven actions. It
achieves this through the strengthening of institutions, enabling frameworks and
plans and policies, and securing financial investments linked to the development
and advancement of national climate change targets.
The Annual Meeting is providing an opportunity for networking and dialogue on
ways to successfully advance work in several areas including, Green Hydrogen,
Water Management, Sustainable Transport, Sustainable Energy, Biodiversity,
Circular Economy and Sargassum.
On the first day of engagement, participants had the opportunity to receive updates
on current actions of the programme, to include useful information of success
stories which could help to inform best practices for replicability, implementation
of various initiatives and partnerships.
OECS country representatives, as well as delegates from the wider Caribbean
Community, explored potential and planned joint actions to address approaches to
the circular economy with respect to Sargassum, and non-revenue water. It is
expected that the concept documents and terms of reference for the initial work to
address issues related to non-revenue water – which is defined as water that has
been produced and is lost before it reaches the customer – will be concluded in
short order to allow for swift action in addressing this area of concern.
A main element of the discussions over the 3-day annual meeting will look at the
EU Global Gateway Investment Agenda (GGIA), which aims to accelerate
implementation of a just and green transition, through the identification and
facilitation of investment opportunities in Latin America and the Caribbean, in the
case of Euroclima.
The outlook for the Caribbean region’s involvement in Euroclima, even in these
early stages, shows much promise, and there are planned in-country consultations
to better understand the gaps and challenges for consideration in the design of
impactful actions.
Euroclima is presently funded to the tune of 140 million euro and is jointly funded
by the EU and the German Federal Government via the Federal Ministry for
Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
