In a side event held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, OPCC participants opened for signing a joint statement in which they commit to developing comprehensive and ambitious green and just transition plans.
Parliamentary leaders from Latin American and Caribbean countries and participants of the Parliamentary Observatory on Climate Change and Just Transition (OPCC) met at the 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28), signed today a joint statement that launches a global call to reach an agreement to a new model of green, sustainable, inclusive and just development.
The joint statement was opened to signatures and support at the event “The leading role of Latin American and Caribbean parliamentarians in building a new green and inclusive development model", held in person at the Pavilion Brazil+ at COP28, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The event was led by the Parliamentary Observatory on Climate Change and Just Transition (OPCC) and organized by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), with the support of the Open Society Foundations (OSF).
The event was moderated by Senator Jaques Wagner of Brazil and featured presentations by José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, Executive Secretary of ECLAC, Deputy Célia Xabriaká of Brazil, Premier Natalio Wheatley of the British Virgin Islands, Representative of the Chamber of Deputies Juan Carlos Losada of Colombia and Deputy Nilto Tatto of Brazil.
The joint statement’s signatories, who celebrate the Parliamentary Observatory on Climate Change and Just Transition (OPCC), represent the diversity of the political spectrum and share the commitment to the fight against climate change, to developing comprehensive and ambitious green and just transition plans, which contribute to the protection of the environment and address the climate emergency while promoting socio-economic development and the well-being of people.
According to the joint statement, the pact for a new development model is based on three principles, which are: (i) Principle of no environmental regression; (ii) Principle of evidence-based practice and social dialogue; and (iii) Principle of just transition, social participation and productive inclusion.
In addition, three strategic areas are established to focus efforts for this new development model: (i) Just and sustainable mobility; (ii) Just and sustainable energy transition; and (iii) Protection, restoration and recovery of ecosystems and natural biomes.
"The path towards a profound transformation to a productive, inclusive and sustainable future can offer development opportunities, such as employment and income generation through the expansion of sustainable activities. However, we also recognize that such a transformation poses challenges and risks, especially in terms of how the countries of the Global South will position themselves in global value chains and in the international geopolitical system in the context of decarbonization," the statement said.
The OPCC calls on parliamentarians from around the world to join forces with the initiative. The joint statement is open for signatures from parliamentarians from the Global South and Planet Earth via the following link: https://forms.gle/ej8qxZmRk4pRMDo39.
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The event was recorded and can be accessed from (starting at 4'40''):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSOvSej6SSs
For parliamentarians interested in signing the joint statement:
