Following the success of the European Commission’s EUROCLIMA programme, which aimed to foster cooperation between Latin America and the European Union (EU) on various climate issues, the Commission launched its new flagship programme EUROCLIMA+ which aims to build on the accomplishments of the initial programme.
 
The EUROCLIMA+ programme, which was launched in 2017 and will run until December 2020, aims to promote environmentally sustainable and climate-resilient development in 18 Latin American countries. The programme is based on the provision of technical and financial support in the development and implementation of climate change adaptation and mitigation policies, as well as assisting in the area of regional policy dialogue and in support of the strategies committed to by said Latin American countries in the scope of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.

The EUROCLIMA+ programme addresses seven specific areas of intervention related to climate issues, namely: 

  • Climate governance
  • Forests, biodiversity and ecosystems (BBE, Spanish acronym)
  • Disaster risk reduction and management
  • Urban mobility
  • Resilient food production
  • Renewable energy and energy efficiency
  • Water management

Expertise France was nominated to head the Forest, biodiversity and ecosystems (BBE) component, and in turn contracted 2 AETS experts with a wealth of experience on the subject matter as well as the Latin American region.
AETS experts have been ensuring, and will continue to ensure, the provision of the following services:

  • Outlining and launching a Call for Proposals, focused on innovative projects related to the subject matter
  • Analysing and selecting the proposals in order to advise Expertise France with regards to the project grants, worth a total of € 10 million
  • Ongoing deliberate support and continuous dialogue with the programme partners (European Commission, United Nations, EU member state agencies and representatives of the participating Latin American countries)
  • Technical advice on the subject matter to the team and project implementers       
  • Technical studies on the current, or possible future, challenges of the sector in Latin American countries
  • Moderation of international events
  • Monitoring and evaluation of the projects chosen for implementation