22 February 2012: The Latin American Development Bank (CAF) has signed a framework cooperation agreement with Brazil's Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI) to support the development and strengthening of monitoring, early warning systems and response systems for natural disasters.
17 February 2012: In partnership with Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (INPE), the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) offered Member State technical officials training courses on the use of a satellite detection system of deforestation, which was developed by INPE.
9 February 2012: The Stockholm Convention Regional Center for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) held a five-week training course for officials from ten Spanish-speaking LAC countries on the environmentally sound management (ESM) of persistent organic pollutants (POPs).
16 February 2012: The US, Bangladesh, Canada, Ghana, Mexico and Sweden, with the support of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), have launched the Climate and Clean Air Coalition to Reduce Short-Lived Climate Pollutants, which aims to reduce short-lived climate pollutants, carbon, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and methane.
The first session of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) in charge of advising member countries in the implementation of the Protocol on Marine Pollution from Land-Based Sources and Activities (LBS Protocol) will take place in Aruba. The LBS Protocol is one of several to the Cartagena Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment in the Wider Caribbean Region (WCR). Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Belize, France, Guyana, Panama, Saint Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, and the US are Parties to the Protocol. The UN Environment Programme's (UNEP) Caribbean Regional Coordinating Unit (CAR/RCU) provides the secretariat services for the Convention, its Protocols and its associated bodies such as the STAC. The first session of the STAC will discuss, inter alia: emerging pollution issues for the WCR; state of the WCR coastal and marine environment; implementation of the LBS Protocol; and new projects/needs.
The purpose of the regional consultation is to discuss prevailing challenges at national and regional levels in water quality data acquisition and sharing, monitoring, assessment and reporting and how the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) - Global Environment Monitoring System (GEMS) Water Programme can help to face those challenges. It will also address how to best reinvigorate and increase Latin American participation in the GEMS/Water global network and the submission of raw data to the GEMStat database.
7 February 2012: A first-ever eco-audit of the Mesoamerican Reef (MAR) system off the coasts of Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico has found that, despite some positive steps, much more needs to be done to protect Latin America's largest reef system.
This workshop is funded by the Spanish Government and is organized by the Water Alliance (Alianza por el Agua), a coalition of public agencies, water service providers, research centers and universities, and civil society organizations in Spain and the Central American countries, as well as regional actors such as UN-HABITAT and the Central American Commission on Environment and Development (CCAD). The workshop seeks to plan and construct gender indicators for water and sanitation projects in Central America that truly promote gender equity.
January 2012: The January issue of the Organisation for Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) RRACC News spotlights initial OECS steps to implement the Reducing Risk to Human and Natural Assets Resulting from Climate Change (RRACC) project.
3 February 2012: The subregional headquarters for the Caribbean of the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) recently convened an expert group to discuss the status of regional efforts to develop economic frameworks to assess the economic and social impacts of climate change in the Caribbean in key sectors.
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