Project
Photo: UNFCCCMonitoring the UN Climate Negotiations
As changes in climate become more extreme, their affects are being hardest felt throughout developing countries. Since 1994, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change has laid out actions to limit the increase of global average temperatures and confront the impacts of climate change.
The States that are Parties to the Convention meet every year in the so-called Conference of the Parties (COP) to review their commitments, the progress made in fulfilling them, and pending challenges in the global fight against the climate crisis.
At COP21 in 2015, they adopted the Paris Agreement, which seeks to strengthen the global response to the climate emergency, establishing a common framework for all countries to work on the basis of their capacities and through the presentation of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) that will:
- Limit the increase in global temperatures to 2°C compared to pre-industrial levels and continue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C;
- Increase the capacity of countries to adapt to the impacts of climate change; and
- Ensure that financing responds to the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Our focus areas
THE CLIMATE CRISIS AND HUMAN RIGHTS
The climate crisis, due to its transversal character, has repercussions in various fields, geographies, contexts and people. In this regard, the Preamble to the Paris Agreement states that it is the obligation of States to "respect, promote and fulfill their respective obligations on human rights, the right to health, the rights of indigenous peoples, local communities, migrants, children, persons with disabilities and people in vulnerable situations and the right to development, as well as gender equality, the empowerment of women and intergenerational equity."
AIDA at the COP
COP25: Chile-Madrid 2019
At COP25 in Madrid, Spain, we advocated for the inclusion of the human rights perspective in various agenda items. We promoted the incorporation of broad socio-environmental safeguards in the regulation of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, which refers to carbon markets. We closely followed the adoption of the Gender Action Plan, as well as the Santiago Network, created "to catalyze technical assistance […] in developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse affects of climate change." We also encouraged the inclusion of ambitious and measurable targets for the reduction of short-lived climate pollutants in the climate commitments of States.
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Three advances for climate and environmental justice in 2021
In the face of increasing environmental degradation and the climate crisis, the strength of the collective struggle shows that it’s possible to ensure a healthy environment and a sustainable future for all people. This year, AIDA made important advances on that path, hand-in-hand with communities and allies in the region. The stories below tell of achievements that bring us closer to the environmental and climate justice we urgently need and for which we work every day. They are the stories that inspire us to continue working for the future. 1. Mayan women pave the way for responsible financing In Guatemala, under our guidance and with the support of local and international allies, the struggle of the Mayan women of Ixquisis to defend their water and territory has made history. Following a complaint against the large dams being implemented in their territory, the Inter-American Development Bank’s accountability office recognized the damage the dams caused and, for the first time, acknowledged the possibility of a responsible withdrawal of its investment. leARN MORE 2. Court ruling upholds the preservation of natural protected areas The intention of large real estate developers to dismantle the Yum Balam protected area for flora and fauna in the Mexican Caribbean has hit a wall. Mexico's Supreme Court set a key legal precedent by determining that the management program, fundamental to the sustainable use of the site, is legal. AIDA helped defend Yum Balam in court and, years earlier, our attorneys helped build the management program. LEARN MORE 3. International support reaches high-Andean lakes in Bolivia Together with local communities and organizations, AIDA requested international technical support for the recovery of lakes Poopó and Uru Uru in the Bolivian highlands, which was finally formalized by the government. This support, scheduled for next year, is vital for the recuperation of these ecosystems, life-support systems for biodiversity and the indigenous and peasant communities in the area. learn more Read these stories and much more about this year's journey in our 2021 Annual Report!
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The day that the indigenous struggle bore fruit in Guatemala
September 22, 2021 will be an iconic date for the men and women of the micro-region of Yich K'isis (Ixquisis), Guatemala, whose lives were abruptly changed by the construction of the San Mateo and San Andres hydroelectric dams, financed by IDB Invest. On that day, the IDB Group's Independent Consultation and Investigation Mechanism (MICI) upheld most of their claims, contained in the complaint they filed three years ago. Their final report acknowledges that the bank failed to verify the information about the affected population provided by the company responsible for the projects, which ignored the presence of indigenous peoples in the area. It also points out the failure to consider the differentiated impacts that women would experience in any of the project implementation phases, overlooking the role that the local rivers play in their daily lives and in their ways of inhabiting the territory. On the environmental issue, essential to indigenous peoples' ways of life, MICI also establishes non-compliance, recognizing that "IDB Invest did not ensure that the projects properly identified and delimited critical habitats and internationally recognized zones, nor that risks and impacts were established." In terms of access to information for the communities, the bank "failed to comply with its own operational policies, as no meaningful consultation with the communities took place in the development of the projects," the document reads. The indigenous men and women of Ixquisis see the report as recognition of what they’ve been denouncing for years. Along with its conclusions, MICI also makes a series of recommendations aimed at correcting the mistakes made by the bank in the San Mateo and San Andres projects, as well as avoiding repeating them in other cases. In its last recommendation, the accountability mechanism establishes, for the first time in the IDB's history, the possibility for the bank to responsibly withdraw from projects it finances. For the communities of Ixquisis, this recommendation represents the best hope for the restoration of their lives, abruptly transformed by the arrival of the projects. Indeed, ever since the complaint process began, the communities have been demanding the cessation of project funding. They consider it unsustainable that projects that fail to recognize their existence, and cause so much damage to their territory, some of it irreparable, should be financed by an international institution whose main mandate is to promote development. In the scenarios in which they were able to express their feelings to bank and MICI officials, their request was heard: the bank cannot continue financing projects that have impacted their lives in such severe and unjust ways, and its exit must be responsible. This means that the bank’s withdrawal must be based on a plan built with the effective participation of the communities and must contemplate all the damages caused in relation to social dynamics, the increased conflict in the region, the failure to acknowledge the existence of indigenous peoples and their rights, the affects on the ancestral cultural heritage, the differentiated impacts on women, and the lack of prevention and consequent environmental degradation. The bank must now propose an action plan to comply with MICI’s report, a mission that is undoubtedly transcendental. The bank now has the historic opportunity to correct its mistakes and legitimize its actions, honor its institutional mandate to promote development, respect and recognize indigenous peoples, and contribute to making the Ixquisis micro-region a place where indigenous men and women can once again develop their life in harmony with nature, and alongside their community.
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Gladys Martínez, Executive Director of AIDA
After a rigorous recruitment process spearheaded by AIDA’s Board of Directors, Gladys Martínez de Lemos has accepted the position of AIDA Executive Director, effective immediately. Gladys Martínez has a long trajectory with AIDA, having helped to build and strengthen the organization for the past 15 years. She is recognized as a positive, empathetic, and dynamic leader who believes deeply in AIDA, and encourages the team’s professional and personal growth. Throughout the recruitment process, entrusted to an independent search firm and involving a committee of representatives from the Board and AIDA team, Gladys proved herself to be the most qualified candidate for the position. For the past eight years, Gladys has led AIDA’s Marine Biodiversity and Coastal Protection Program, overseeing its growth into a multidisciplinary team of attorneys and scientists advocating for species and ecosystem preservation, responsible management practices, and the protection of coastal communities. She has represented AIDA before international negotiating bodies, championed relationships with governments, and grown alliances with organizations and advocates across the Americas. Gladys has a law degree from the University of Costa Rica and a master's degree in Environmental Security and Peace from the United Nations University for Peace. Most recently, she became a Kellog Executive Scholar in Nonprofit Management through Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. "My journey with AIDA has been a great adventure for the defense of the people and natural places of Latin America," she said. "Important parts of my heart and mind were formed here at this organization and, now, I’m honored to have the opportunity to lead it into its next stage. Supported by my experience and the tools I’ve acquired in recent years, I’m looking forward to maximizing the talents of AIDA’s team and, together, advancing our efforts for environmental and climate justice on the continent.” This executive leadership transition represents an important organizational evolution as AIDA shifts to a single executive director model following the departure of former co-director Astrid Puentes Riaño. In the new structure, the Board has named former co-director Anna Cederstav Chief Financial Officer. Anna will also serve as Deputy Executive Director to help continue growing and strengthening the institution. AIDA owes both Astrid and Anna a debt of gratitude for their 18 years of co-direction, and for having built AIDA into the dynamic regional organization it is today. With the team’s knowledge, skills, and experience, and the strong foundation on which the organization is built, AIDA will continue to advance environmental and climate justice in Latin America and champion the systemic changes that the region, and the world, so desperately needs.
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