February 23, 2021The Platform for Climate Action in Agriculture in Latin America and the Caribbean (PLACA), a regional initiative that seeks to coordinate and strengthen climate action in agriculture, concluded the technical workshops of the thematic working groups on research, public policy, knowledge transfer and best practices, and adaptation and mitigation.

The meetings brought together more than 60 professionals from the ministries of agriculture of Argentina, Bahamas, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay and the Dominican Republic to agree on joint activities related to climate action in agriculture.

The workshops allowed for fine-tuning the 2021 work plans of the four groups, with emphasis on what will guide the platform's work throughout the year. The documents, which will be published in March of this year, contemplate a series of activities and initiatives among PLACA member countries to enhance climate action in the region.

The objective of PLACA is to support countries in generating a regional space for the exchange of knowledge, technologies and collaborative practices in agriculture, in order to support the implementation of domestic, local and regional policies to address the challenges and impacts of climate change and climate variability in the agricultural sector.
This, with the support of the German Ministry of Food and Agriculture.

About PLACA

The Platform for Climate Action in Agriculture in Latin America and the Caribbean was launched in 2019, within the framework of COP25. It is a regional mechanism for voluntary collaboration on agriculture and climate change, aimed at productive agricultural development, adapted to the effects of climate change, resilient and low in greenhouse gas emissions. FAO and ECLAC lead the secretariat.

The platform considers the social, environmental and economic dimensions to seek synergies between the initiative and major environmental conventions, such as the Climate Change Convention, Agenda 2030, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, and the Conventions on Biological Diversity and Combating Desertification and Drought.

In addition to the 10 member countries mentioned above, PLACA has six partner organizations: the World Bank; Conservation International; the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS); the Global Alliance for Climate-Smart Agriculture (GACSA); the Natural Resources Institute of Finland (LUKE); and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).