We participated in the 4th Climate Summit of Colombia and Latin America that took place on August 24, 25 and 26 in Medellín, Colombia.
This event was organized by the Colombian Association of Carbon Market Actors (ASOCARBONO) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), to learn about carbon market trends in Colombia and the world, and share the environmental & social impacts of Nature-Based Solutions.
The Summit gathered more than 700 national and international attendees, including project developers, validation and verification organizations (OVV), financial institutions, corporates, carbon market experts and ethnic communities.
Our Director, Francisco Quiroga, and our Co-Director, Alejandro Camacho, who is a delegate of the Association of Councils and Traditional Indigenous Authorities of the Matavén Forest (ACATISEMA), participated in the panel “Lessons learned from REDD+ and Afforestation/Reforestation”.
During the panel, they highlighted some key points for the successful development of the Project, such as:
- The incorporation of a unified reservation (the Indigenous Reservation of the Matavén Forest); with a common mission: to protect and conserve the natural resources of the territory. Previously, the territory was made up of 16 independent indigenous reservations.
- The Matavén communities need to create a project to accomplish their mission: REDD+ Matavén is an initiative of its indigenous peoples.
- The Strategic Alliance Agreement between ACATISEMA and MEDIAMOS F&M to design and implement REDD+ Matavén.
- The priority to respect and promote the autonomy, self-determination, rights, life plan, worldview, cultural integrity, dignity and governance of Matavén indigenous peoples.
- The creation of the Joint Commission, which includes members of the Coordinating Committee of ACATISEMA and members of the Board of Directors of MEDIAMOS, to make strategic decisions of the Project.
- The endorsement of REDD+ Matavén from the Superior Court of the Judicial District of Villavicencio and the Supreme Court of Justice of Colombia.
- The governance strengthening of Matavén indigenous peoples and ACATISEMA.
- The hard work to solve technical, community and financial challenges.
The closing of the Summit was in charge of Juan Lozano, who made a special emphasis on the need to fight against the demonization conceived by the bad actions of the “carbon cowboys”, to focus on environmental integrity, quality standards and ethics; and promote transparency in markets and prices.