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Welcome back to Sustainability Dispatch!

As the year closes to an end, the United Nations yearly most important climate summit, the Conference of the Parties (COP27) has begun last Sunday in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, and will gather government representatives, business leaders, and civil society from all around the globe. More than 45,000 people are gathered in this African nation to discuss climate finance and loss and damage; adaptation and resilience; and important pending details around the functionality of international carbon markets.

As climate topics pick up steam, we continued our efforts to support policy makers, decision takers, and other stakeholders such as private sector entities throughout Latin America through science-based research and thought-leadership in blue carbon, sustainable supply chains, and climate policy. Read more of our September and October work and, if you find it interesting, please feel free to share and send us your comments!


Tania Miranda, EC2 Policy Director.

Our Recent Work

Las Californias Blue Carbon Initiative

As part of our Las Californias Blue Carbon Initiative, the Gulf of California Marine Program used the InVEST Blue Carbon models to estimate the carbon stock and total net carbon sequestration for marsh vegetation and seagrass meadows found in the Bay of San Quintín, Baja California, Mexico. See full report here.

Furthermore, in the context of the Mexico- Colombia Climate Week 2022 organized by the Cámara Verde de Comercio and the Mexico Chapter of the U.S. Green Chamber of Commerce, we co-hosted a webinar with 5 topic experts on our recent publication titled “Legal Analysis of the Ownership and Use Regime of Mangroves, Seagrass and Macroalgae in Mexico, in Connection to their Capacity to Generate Blue Carbon Offsets" Watch the webinar here.

Ship-borne Marine Pollution 

As part of our research project on ship-borne marine pollution, stemmed from the unintended consequences of a new IMO regulation on sulfur content of shipping fuel, we presented the results of our studies along with a series of recommendations in October in a working group with authorities and civil society in the city of La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico.The roundtable was organized in the context of the Ciudades + Humanas 2-day in-person forum organized by Cómo Vamos La Paz. We also featured graphic material in the congress expo. See related press note here.

Participation in the XXXI La Jolla Energy Conference

During the XXXI La Jolla Conference organized by our colleagues of the Energy & Sustainability Program, we moderated a panel with Ana Lilia Moreno, Program Coordinator for Competition and Regulation at México Evalúa and Régulo Salinas, Chairman of the Energy Committee of Mexico’s Business Coordinating Council, entitled "The Keys to North America’s Energy Future and the Decarbonization of Supply Chains".


   Publications

  • During the 2022 UN Latin America and Caribbean Climate Week, we organized and moderated a panel on the topic of “Decarbonization across supply chains: The role of regulations on climate risk disclosures,” and as a result of this conversation, we published the following proceedings brief where we hold a Q&A with the panelists.
  • Don’t miss this op-ed we published at the El Heraldo de México on Qatar’s FIFA World Cup’s net-zero emissions claim and the controversy around the use of carbon credits. Sports is responsible for around 0.6% of global yearly greenhouse gas emissions; it certainly needs to be part of the conversation—and the solution—to climate change!

 

  • We also contributed as co-authors of a working paper that served as a conversation-starter of the Commission of the Californias (COMCAL) hybrid meeting hosted at the IOA in September, with government representatives of California, Baja California and Baja Sur, on the topic of e-mobility.

Coming Soon!

Authored by EC2’s non-resident fellow, Soffia Alarcón-Díaz and Tania Miranda, we will be publishing the second of a 3-part series briefing related to climate risks. As LATAM is being engulfed in climate disasters, global supply chains face growing disruption risks, and this as well as other transitional, reputational, and policy risks are putting increasing pressures on companies. You can review the first briefing we published in April on Scope 3 emissions regulations and their potential effects on Latin American firms here

The geeky, yet cool tool of the month: Can you reach net zero?

Created by the University of Michigan’s School for Environment and Sustainability, the Grow Your Green Knowledge Game is a great tool to test yourself on a variety of topics related to sustainability, such as energy, water, food and waste, buildings, materials, and transportation systems. Become a “Green Genius”, post your score on social media, and tag the Institute of the Americas!

 

About EC2

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 goal of protecting its rich marine and land-based natural capital. 

 

You can explore other things the Institute is working on through our website and follow us on social media!

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