Institute of the Americas Enlace Newsletter Q4

Having trouble viewing this email? View it in your web browser

President's Column

During 2024 the Institute of the Americas (IOA) has much to be grateful for and celebrate with steady progress made towards furthering our mission through work across our energy, environment & climate change and economic competitiveness programmatic pillars. IOA’s accomplishments over the past year are highlighted in our recently issued 2024 annual report, which I encourage you to read.

Over the past year, IOA organized 13 convenings bringing together over 800 multi-stakeholder actors from the private, public, civil society, and academic participating in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico, as well as our annual energy conferences in La Jolla and Madrid. Another key highlight was the organization of our first annual sustainable shipping forum in La Paz, BCS which resulted in a partnership between IOA, CAMEINTRAM and World Wildlife Fund Mexico that led to launching Mexico’s Champions for Sustainable Shipping initiative now working to catalyze expanded decarbonization initiatives for the country’s shipping and ports sectors. Read more»

Features

The Institute of the Americas (IOA) is pleased to share its 2024 annual report highlighting our work over the past year in the areas of energy, environment & climate change and economic competitiveness.

We appreciate the support of our sponsors, steering committee members, partners, collaborators and our staff!

See Report

Programs

ENERGY & SUSTAINABILITY

Energy Ambassadors Workshop Series

In partnership with Sempra Infrastructure, this September and October, we hosted the latest editions of our Energy Ambassadors training workshop in Baja California and Sonora. Twenty-five ‘new ambassadors’ participated from the two Mexican states. Our newest “Energy Ambassadors” are community leaders and professionals from the government, media, private sector and academia. Launched in 2019, the objective of our Energy Ambassador programs is to enhance participants' understanding of the critical importance of energy and sustainability issues, both locally and globally.

Each training workshop, delivered in Spanish, features subject matter experts from Mexico and the United States, including several of our Non-Resident Fellows: Cecilia Aguillon, Leonardo Beltran and Francisco Salazar. Learn more »

XXXIII La Jolla Energy Conference

The XXXIII La Jolla Energy Conference once again proved to be a crucial platform for addressing significant issues and evolving policies shaping the energy future of Latin America and the Caribbean. Our unique setting and ambience are key to facilitating business relationships and exchanges year after year while the agenda fosters insightful dialogue on essential topics, from decarbonization pathways and Net Zero ambitions to regional integration and the infrastructure challenges of electrification. Experts discussed the vital roles of natural gas, technological advancements, and financing solutions in achieving sustainable energy transitions. The transformation and pace of change and innovation were roundly and hotly debated and created a fertile environment for collaborative solutions and actionable strategies.

Read Summary Report

See Photo Gallery

Future Energy Leaders (FELI) COP29 Reflections

Two participants from our Future Energy Leaders Initiative, McKenna Maxwell and Roberto Hernández Rodríguez, participated in this year’s COP 29 meeting in Azerbaijan as part of the UC San Diego delegation. Both are second-year graduate students at UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy (GPS). We are pleased to publish their essays with their personal reflections and thoughts from COP29.
Read essays»

Dossier Brazil-US Strategic Partnership within the G20 for Global Challenges

As part of the IOA collaboration with Brazilian Center for International Relations (CEBRI), we were pleased to contribute an essay for the T20 Organizing Committee — the G20 think tank engagement group. Our contribution considered the theme and question “How can Brazil and the United States cooperate to promote energy transition within the G-20?” The essay authored by Jeremy Martin and Stephanie Orosz and the dossier itself seek to identify forms of strategic collaboration that can inspire concrete initiatives and explores the relationship between the two countries with a focus on the G20, seeking pathways for deeper collaboration that leverages the central roles of Brazil and the United States.
Read dossier»

Regional Integration as Catalyst for the Energy Transition

On December 11 in Rio de Janeiro, IOA in partnership with CEBRI, hosted our second joint in-person event: Regional Integration as Catalyst for the Energy Transition. While discussion of regional integration and the potential benefits have long been clear, there is the sense that we have arrived at an important new moment that could truly unleash what many have worked for years to bring to fruition. We have a vital opportunity to reinvigorate cross-border cooperation and regional energy integration driven by what may best be described as the dual currency of electrons and molecules. Indeed, as the level of discourse and optimism on display at our event highlighted, we are poised to move beyond years of uneven results.

ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE (EC2)

Virtual Roundtable Discussion on Sustainable Port Operations with the Inter-American Committee on Ports

On Nov. 25^th, the Secretariat of the Inter-American Committee on Ports (CIP) of the Organization of American States (OAS), in collaboration with the IOA co-hosted the second webinar in our series on sustainable operations of the maritime-ports sector.

Experts from Barbados Port Inc., Port of Açu, in Brazil, and the National Port System Administration (ASIPONA) of Manzanillo, Mexico presented successful practices that catalyze the decarbonization of the sector through electrification, digitalization, and alternative fuels. We had around 170 participants from more than 20 countries from the hemisphere and beyond. For more information on this and our discussion from last April, click here.

Watch Recording

EC2 at COP16 in Cali, Colombia

IOA President Richard Kiy and Tania Miranda, EC2 Director, were present at UN biodiversity summit COP16. They participated at a high-level roundtable discussion organized by the UN High Level Champions and chaired by H.E. Razan Al Mubarak titled “LAC Leadership in Nature and Climate Agendas” to discuss low-hanging fruits for the region to advance climate change measures that tackle biodiversity loss simultaneously, and how to leverage private sector financing.

We also met with existing and new partners to discuss solutions to LATAM’s most pressing biodiversity challenges, with the hopes of collaborating in future projects. Towards this end, EC2 co-hosted a small reception with Cali’s Municipal Environmental Department, DAGMA, and will explore new initiatives with partners such as Iniciativa Climática de México, CEMDA, Scripps Institution of Oceanography and others, as the world’s nations prepare to update their Nationally Determined Contributions before the much-expected climate COP30 in Brazil next year.

First Generation of Science Communication Training Workshop

The Gulf of California Marine Program (GCMP)’s Science Literacy program held the first science communication training workshop in La Paz in early October. In collaboration with the Centro para la Biodiversidad Marina y la Conservación and dataMares, a three-day workshop gathered 14 early career scientists, students and communication specialists to learn about graphic techniques and methods to communicate scientific findings.

This workshop was designed by dataMares’ Art Director, Luis Miguel Cruz, and GCMP Director Catalina López, as a hands-on, multidisciplinary experience to promote collaboration between scientists and graphic designers. We look forward to more workshops in the future as we continue to promote greater access and transparency in science.

CCE Silicon Valley Climate Hub Launched

In collaboration with San Francisco-based venture studio Good Machine (GM), IOA was selected by the State Department to co-coordinate a hub that aims to help catalyze expanded investment for climate-focused startups in the global south through expanded engagement with California's entrepreneurial ecosystem with emphasis on the San Francisco Bay Area. The planned global climate tech hub is being undertaken in support of the State Department's Coalition for Climate Entrepreneurship (CCE).

The CCE is a public-private partnership designed to catalyze climate innovation in developing economies by nurturing emerging and market-viable climate solutions.

As part of this partnership, IOA and GM will provide a host of services and programs, -including mentoring, strategic advising, and access to U.S. funding opportunities- designed to bolster the progress and impact of climate tech startups, including specialized support to CCE hubs in Jamaica, Ghana, and Vietnam. For its part, IOA will also be partnering with Founder Haus, a startup accelerator in Florianopolis, Brazil to support startup founders in Argentina and Brazil through a regional springboard program with the goal of helping them successfully secure the necessary capital in the U.S. to succeed and scale.

On December 16^th, IOA and Good Machine held a virtual kickoff meeting where we met the other CCE Hub leads, learned about the startup founders they are helping, and discussed some of the areas where we can assist. We will keep you updated on this work through 2025 and 2026!

ECONOMIC COMPETITIVENESS

World Design Capital - Beyond Borders

On November 12-13, the cities of San Diego and Tijuana co-hosted the 2024 World Design Capital Policy Conference. Attended by over 400 design and policy experts, the conference featured four key discussion tracks focused on creativity, innovation, health and beyond borders. The Beyond Borders track was co-organized by the Institute of the Americas and the Burnham Center for Community Advancement and highlighted the unique challenges and opportunities of cross-border regions, including San Diego-Tijuana, El Paso-Cd. Juarez and Detroit-Windsor, emphasizing design-led strategies for urban development in cross-border communities. Panel discussions on topics that included transboundary water resource governance, border infrastructure, cross-border housing management, urban mobility, workforce development, and transboundary climate adaptation and resilience.

The track also included a keynote address by former Mexican Ambassador to the U.S Martha Barcena who spoke about the critical importance of design in thinking about the border not just in terms of infrastructure but also on a policy front. Ambassador Barcena, noted that given growing bilateral political tensions along the border, “we need to design for greater cooperation not contention.”

North American Forum in Ottawa, Canada

Last month, the North American Forum (NAF) was held in Ottawa bringing together thought leaders from the United States, Mexico, and Canada to explore North American economic integration and the USMCA. Over the course of two days, Forum participants reaffirmed the critical importance of trilateral cooperation and collaboration to address our shared challenges and to advance our shared values. The NAF meeting came at a crucial time given that trilateral discussions related to the renewal of the United States-Canada-Mexico Agreement (USMCA) are expected to begin next year.

A joint statement was issued by the NAF’s three country Chairs: Goldy Hyder (Canada), Ambassador Tom Shannon (U.S), and Dr. Jaime Zablludovsky (Mexico). The Institute of the Americas and UC San Diego’s School of Global Policy & Strategy serve as the NAF’s U.S. Co-Coordinators and together will be hosting the next NAF meeting in La Jolla in 2025.

Brazil Bound Forum

On December 11^th the Institute of the Americas partnered with the U.S. Commercial Service (USCS) to host a forum entitled Brazil Bound: A Gateway to Export Success featuring Brazil-specific presentations from the U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Ex-Im Bank and the Brazil-California Chamber of Commerce attended by various small and medium-sized businesses from San Diego and Orange Counties, that were either already active in Brazil or had an interest in expanding the businesses there.

Speakers highlighted the growing export and investment opportunities in Brazil, the world’s 9^th largest economy with the largest consumer base in Latin America with a population of 215 million and a GDP of $2.17 trillion in 2023. Last year, bilateral trade between the United States and Brazil reached nearly US$ 75 billion. At the forum, the USCS planned TradeWinds: the Americas’s trade mission and business development forum scheduled in Sao Paulo in April 2025. Learn more about TradeWinds Americas.

Our People

Welcome to the Institute’s New Board Chair: Javade Chaudhri

The Institute of the Americas is excited to welcome Javade Chaudhri as our new Board Chair who assumed his new role last month. Javade has served on IOA’s board since 2011.

Javade is a partner with the Jones Day law firm, advising companies and state-owned enterprises around the world on significant projects, mergers and acquisitions, and strategic alliances. He also advises companies on corporate governance, compliance, and international arbitrations and litigation.

Prior to joining Jones Day in 2013, Javade was executive vice president, general counsel, and chief environmental officer for Sempra Energy from 2003 to 2013. Prior to that, he was the general counsel of Gateway, the technology company.

Javade is adjunct professor at the International Law Institute and Loyola University Law School’s Rule of Law program. He is a frequent speaker on a broad range of subjects and is active and on the board of a number of organizations involved with global education, conservation and technology.

In addition to his role as Chairman of IOA, he serves on the board of the San Diego Zoo Global Alliance, UCSD’s Global Policy & Strategy School, the US-Asia Institute, Loyola’s Rule of Law Institute, the Rumie Initiative, and the Yale International Alliance. Javade received a Bachelor of Science and Master of Environmental Science degree from Yale University and a Juris Doctor degree from Georgetown University.

Special Tribute to Jorge Rosenblut, IOA Board Chair (2018-2024)

With Jorge Rosenblut having recently completed his distinguished six-year tenure as Chairman of the Institute of the Americas Board of Directors, we honor his exceptional leadership and contributions.

From November 2018 to November 2024, Mr. Rosenblut has been an invaluable force, guiding the Institute with vision, dedication, and a commitment to fostering constructive dialogue across the Americas. Mr. Rosenblut led the search of IOA’s President & CEO and was instrumental in Richard Kiy’s recruitment during the summer of 2020. Read more»