AGENDA

For climate change to become a pillar of U.S. foreign policy, the Biden administration will need to create a constructive agenda that incorporates the priorities of its allies, but also meets Washington's objectives. In its relations with Latin America and the Caribbean and Spain, the United States has many opportunities for collaboration that would meet these objectives.

A new chapter is opening due to the return of the new U.S. government to the Paris Agreement, the mitigation of the climate crisis will largely determine the future of renewable energies and other axes that represent a potential economic flow in a context of decarbonization of the economy and an urgent post-pandemic green recovery. The terms of trade between Mexico and the United States will depend fundamentally on the flexibility that the Biden administration demonstrates in complying with trade, labor and environmental provisions that have been subscribed to in the T-MEC.

The regional Climate Weeks will provide a platform for representatives of national and sub-national governments, cities, the private sector, financial institutions and civil society to jointly discuss opportunities to better recover from the COVID19 pandemic. On the other hand, they will serve for recovery policies to identify opportunities to incorporate ambitious measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase resilience to climate change.

Under the presidency of the United Nations COP25 on Climate Change held in Madrid, the 6 axes of the Santiago-Glasgow Roadmap were approved, to which one more was added later to shift gears and increase multi-level climate action with the representation of the most important networks representing the voice of thousands of local governments on the planet. The first NDCs are not fully compatible with the Paris Agreement because they were all prepared prior to its adoption. In other words, they did not address key objectives such as multi-level action, neutrality in a context of climate emergency and 1.5°C targets. Therefore, the success of COP26 depends on all nations, in collaboration with local and regional governments, preparing ambitious new NDCs before Glasgow. There are several examples of local legislation tools are needed to ensure achieving the 1.5 C global temperature cap target.

"The President will host a leaders' summit on climate change on April 22, Earth Day, which will include a new convening at the leaders' level of the Major Economies Forum. The convening of this summit is essential to ensure that 2021 is going to be the year that really makes up for the lost time of the last four years."

John Kerry

Special Presidential Climate Envoy

The United States is Spain's most important trading partner in the region. In 2017 it was the sixth largest customer (Spanish exports to this country were €12,461 million) and the fifth largest supplier to Spain (Spanish imports were €13,824 million). This panel will discuss how the Biden administration's new infrastructure plan may represent an opportunity for Spanish innovation in the clean energy sector. Spain's approval of the Climate Change Law sets a historic precedent.

To comply with the Paris Agreement, a new financial architecture that connects private capital with innovation in the region is imminent because in most cases it must be executed in subnational territory. How to do it, what is needed? This panel will outline several initiatives being undertaken to accelerate the decarbonization of portfolios.