Event: Launch of the Brown to Green Report 2019 in Argentina

Fundación Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (FARN) organised a two-day event on 13 and 14 November 2019, entitled “Climate crisis: ambitious and technically feasible approaches”, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, during which the Brown to Green Report 2019 has been launched.

The event began witht the presentation of the Brown to Green Report 2019, followed by the panel discussion moderated by Laura Rocha (Periodistas por el Planeta). The panelists, consisting of Climate Transparency partners, William Wills (CentroClima), Mariana Gutiérrez (Iniciativa Climática de México), Gabriel Blanco (UNICEN/FARN) and Enrique Maurtua Konstantinidis (FARN), presented key findings of the report, with the particular focus on Argentina, Brazil and Mexico. The topic of fossil fuel subsidies was largely debated as Argentina is the leader among the G20 countries in subsidising fossil fuels (in relation to its GDP).

The second panel was devoted to sustainable mobility in Argentina. The first results of the policy paper, which has been developed by Climate Transparency and is currently being finalised, were presented. One of the findings shows that, among 14 million vehicles in Argentina, more than a half (62%) is used for the transportation of only one person. The discussion, moderated by Alejandro Gottig (Fundación Avina), was enriched by the presence of Lucila Capelli, who presented the position of the Ministry of Transport. This sector is particularly important for Argentina as it is responsible for 30% of the energy used.

After this, there was a panel on Long-Term Strategies, in particular in the energy sector, with the participation of Gabriel Banco (UNICEN/FARN), Carlos Tanides (Fundación Vida Silvestre), Daniela Keesler (UNICEN/FARN) and Daniela Gomel (Fundación Vida Silvestre) as a moderator.

The rest of the day was dominated by the discussion about Vaca Muerta – the shale oil and gas reserve in the south of Argentina. Ignacio Peña (Surfing Tsunamis) talked about the environmental and economical impact of the oil and gas extraction in this region. His presentation was followed by a debate, during which Laura Rocha (Periodistas por el Planeta) and María Marta Di Paola (FARN) discussed fossil fuel subsidies in Argentina – the topic of FARN’s analysis in the last years.

The second day of the event kicked off with a panel on adaptation. The discussion moderated by Paz González (Fundación Avina), inlcuded the presentation of policy papers of authors from the project LatinoAdapta: Daniel Ryan (ITBA), Verónica Gutman (FTDT), Nazareno Castillo Marín (UNTREF), María Julia Tramutola (FARN) and Alejandro Pelfini (FLACSO).

Karen Podvin (IUCN), María Gabriela Palomo (MACNBR), Ana Di Pangracio (FARN) and Fernando Miñarro (Fundación Vida Silvestre) discussed how to link biodiversity with the climate change – a topic especially relevant for the year 2020. The panel discussion was facilitated by Virginia de Francesco (DPN).

This was followed by a presentation by Antonella Risso (Health without Harm) on the report Climate footprint in the health sector. It was really well appreciated by the audience since it is a subject that is usually not very present in climate change events.

The last panel was devoted to how to communicate the climate change. Following journalists provided their input: Marina Aizen (Periodistas por el Planeta), Mónica Vallejos (El cronista), Alejandro Rebossio (Noticias, Radio con Vos), Martín de Ambrosio (collaborator with La Nación), Florencia Tuchin (RedAcción). It was facilitated by Carolina Gil Posse (Health without Harm) and Pilar Assefh (Periodistas por el Planeta).

The event was very well received and had a high participation of representatives of the government, academia and civil society. It was also live streamed for around 200 people each day.