Post Elections 2016: How to address climate change in Peru?
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- Within the framework of the Presidential Campaign, the event “How to face climate change in Peru? Urgent Issues for the Next Government”. It was concluded that it is necessary to take climate change into account in all national development policies: reduce emissions and achieve greater adaptive capacity.
- If the importance of climate change is not taken into account, the national economy by 2100 is expected to face losses of between 11.4% and 15.4% of 2010 GDP, including human and infrastructure losses.
In order to provide information on the impacts of climate change to the teams of the presidential candidates, a working breakfast was held on Wednesday, February 10 at the headquarters of the Delegation of the European Union in Peru. The event was supported by the Asociación Civil Transparencia, the Embassy of Switzerland, the Embassy of the United States and the European Union, with the participation of representatives of the political candidates and experts on climate change.
Although climate change does not appear on the “urgent” list, governing with the climate against us would mean that the national economy would be strongly affected. This includes material losses (infrastructure and means) and human losses in areas where the country's poorest people are located.
Climate change positioning itself on the political agenda
Gerardo Távara, Secretary General of Transparency, mentioned the importance that the topic has taken in the political agenda in the last years and how it has been prioritized. “In fact, within the framework of the Compara Ya initiative (a website that presents in a summarized form and user-friendly language comparative information on the government plans of different political parties and electoral alliances) one of the thematic search engines is Climate Change”, said Távara. It is expected that this tool, after the elections, will follow up on the fulfillment of the winning party's plan.
Paola Alfaro, WWF's Senior Policy Manager and representative of the Climate Change Impulse Group, said that civil society organizations and international cooperation agencies are interested in sending a message that climate change is not a purely environmental problem, but involves other areas of development. “We believe that work should be done in a cross-cutting manner in all areas and it is encouraging that in most government plans climate change is mentioned, which shows that the country is moving towards greater environmental awareness.”, said Alfaro.
Iván Lanegra, Project Coordinator of Libélula Consulting, explained that for young people under 30 years of age, resource scarcity, climate change and environmental protection are three of the main challenges facing modern societies worldwide. He specified that for these elections, young people under 30 years of age will represent 30.25% of the citizens with the right to vote. In view of this, he stated that it is necessary to mobilize and address the different dimensions of climate change, which represents a way to rethink the business opportunities that the country offers.
“Despite the work we do in the face of climate change, the effects are already present, therefore there is a need to focus on the agenda of commitments that Peru has already assumed and that implies complying with the sustainability agreements and the ratification of the Paris Agreement. In addition, citizens will be greatly affected if the policies of the next government do not involve climate change from the investment agenda, the issues of water and sanitation, energy, transportation, agriculture, food security, forests and competitiveness”, Lanegra indicated.
At the end of the event, representatives of political candidates such as “Perú Posible”, “Peruanos por el Kambio”, “Fuerza Popular”, “Alianza Popular”, “Todos por el Perú”, “Frente Amplio” and “Acción Popular”, agreed that it is necessary to address the issue of climate change from its various dimensions and requested that more spaces for discussion on the subject be developed.
The EU ambassador, Irene Horejs, ratified the support that will facilitate Peru's migration towards a low-emission and climate-compatible economy, within the framework of the experiences, both public and private, of European countries.
Some data of the event:
- In the last 10 years Peru has increased its Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, produced by carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, among others, whose main sources are deforestation and energy (35% and 33% respectively), according to Peru's First Biennial Update Report to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Although GHG emissions are not so high compared to other countries, the next government will have to rethink policies that lead to decoupling GHG emissions from GDP. In other words, continue to grow economically while reducing emissions. The opportunity is the large gap to reduce emissions aligned with improved competitiveness.
- In the agriculture sector alone, losses of between 23.9% and 33.1% of sectoral GDP are estimated for the period 2010 to 2100.
- Tropical forests are the largest terrestrial reservoir of GHGs. Their felling and burning generates the release of these gases. Deforestation and land use change, which in Peru accounts for 35% of GHG emissions, exacerbate the effects of climate change on a global scale.
- The Grupo Impulsor frente al Cambio Climático en Perú is composed of: World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Libélula Gestión en Cambio Climático y Comunicación, Care Perú, Sociedad Peruana de Derecho Ambiental (SPDA), Pronaturaleza, Alianza Clima y Desarrollo (CDKN), Asociación Peruana de Energías Renovables (APEGER), Líderes+1, Gobernabilidad Perú, Helvetas, Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI).
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