At the beginning of July, Regions4 participated in two events organised by the Mexican States of Campeche and Guanajuato respectively, on the topic of climate change adaptation and resilience.

The event “Climate Change, Sustainable Development and the COVID-19 Challenge” organised by the Secretary of Environment, Biodiversity and Climate Change of the Executive Branch of the State of Campeche, in coordination with the Mexican Institute of Finance Executives, University Chapter, and the Technological Institute and Higher Studies of Monterrey, Querétaro Campus took place on 3 July 2020. It was part of the “Virtual Conversation: Dialogues in Time of Change. Crisis or Opportunity?”, a series of virtual informal talks to reflect on topics such as Climate Change, Sustainable Development, Circular Economy, Sustainable Market, Communication and Governance concerning the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The event aimed at raising awareness from an integral environmental perspective about the relationship between climate change, sustainable development, and COVID-19. During the one-hour talk, Campeche underlined the importance of a COVID-19 recovery that integrates the social, economic, and environmental spheres to construct a new paradigm for sustainable development. In this regard, it was presented how Campeche plans to achieve this goal through the implementation of different programmes, such as the Climate Change and Governance Program, the Protected Natural Areas Programme, the State Reforestation Programme, and others, which are all linked to the Agenda 2030, as well as their memberships to various organisations and initiatives, including Regions4. 

The final reflections by Campeche on sustainability and COVID included the call for a new paradigm “If it’s not sustainable, it is not profitable” under the premise that needs and expectations of society as citizens and as consumers change permanently.

The video of the virtual dialogue can be found here.

On 9 July, the conference “Success Stories of Adaptation to Climate Change with a Regional Focus” took place, in the framework of the virtual forum “Sustainable and resilient cities of the Alianza Centro-Bajío-Occidente” (Central-Bajío-West Alliance) in Mexico. The event, jointly organised by the Secretariat of Environment and Territorial Ordering Guanajuato and the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Mexico, discussed the design and implementation of regional, state, and municipal public policies, aimed at increasing the resilience of the cities that make up the Alliance.

Guanajuato described the results of their vulnerability assessment and the State Strategy on Climate Change which is ultimately based on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as presented their Climate Change Prevention Programme. The Programme was developed to contribute to reducing vulnerability to climate change, through the implementation of adaptation measures which include provision and commissioning of rainwater harvesting systems in the homes of the vulnerable population due to water scarcity within the State.

The recording of the event can be accessed here.

The two events represented valuable opportunities to introduce Regions4 and our work, especially in terms of climate change. We also presented the network’s approach for an inclusive, resilient and sustainable recovery manifested in the Declaration “Subnational governments actions to combat global emergencies and build a sustainable post-pandemic world”.