Greater Knowledge and Awareness, Main Challenges for Climate Change in the Region

(Medellin, April 6^th, 2014). With the presence of CAF's Director of the Environment, Ligia Castro; the Director of DNP, Tatyana Orozco; the Minister of Housing, Luis Felipe Henao; the former Mayor of Medellin, Alonso Salazar; the Vice-Minister of the Environment, Juan Pablo Viera; and a strategic group of national and international personalities, a luncheon took place in the Botanical Garden of Medellin, Juaquin Antonio Uribe, as a precursor of the World Urban Forum that starts tomorrow.

During this luncheon, the achievements of the Alliance Cities and Climate Change  were pointed out, which has motivated the association of different public, private, national, and international actors regarding urban subjects with those of climate change, focused toward processes of collective decisions that contribute to generate new adaptation approaches and the mitigation of climate change.

Ligia Castro, CAF's Director of the Environment and Climate Change commented on the achievements of the Cities and Climate Change  Alliance saying that the real challenge to face climate change is to achieve a path of sustainable development, low in carbon, with adaptation measures that have been planned in a timely manner, which also seeks to encourage other entities to be a part of this initiative.

She stated that, "it is essential that political leaders, local authorities, technical consultants, and leaders of the civil society in the cities of Latin America, believe in the need to plan, design, and execute adequate actions for the mitigation and adaptation to climate change".

For national and international experts, the challenge of climate change may not be taken on without adopting a comprehensive urban and regional planning perspective that also enables decision making and the execution of coordinated adaptation and mitigation actions.

CAF's Director of the Environment and Climate Change said, "many cities in the region must make significant advances in the short and medium term to define and execute adaptation and mitigation plans with specific actions and measures. The subject of climate change assumes cooperation from the global, urban, and local spheres to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change".