PARLATINO and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) have launched two key initiatives to advance climate action and community resilience in Latin America and the Amazon. The Parliamentary Alliance for Climate Action and Just Transition (APACTJ) and the Alliance for the Amazon aim to promote adaptation to climate change, reduce hydrometeorological disaster risks, and strengthen the resilience of vulnerable communities. These efforts come ahead of COP30, the 30th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, scheduled for November in Belém do Pará, Brazil.
PARLATINO’s APACTJ serves as a regional platform bringing together legislators from Latin America, the Caribbean, and beyond. It coordinates with specialized organizations to accelerate parliamentary contributions toward building a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment. Congressman Rolando González Patricio highlighted that the alliance leverages constitutional mandates in each country to implement immediate and effective climate policies that ensure a just transition, leaving no one behind.
The IFRC’s Alliance for the Amazon combines scientific knowledge, humanitarian expertise, and ancestral wisdom to protect Amazonian communities from disasters worsened by climate change. Loyce Pace, IFRC Regional Director for the Americas, emphasized the urgency of addressing increasingly severe forest fires, floods, and droughts. The initiative seeks to strengthen the health, livelihoods, and resilience of the region’s most vulnerable families through coordinated action with states, international organizations, and the private sector.
The initiatives were officially presented at the “Joining Forces towards COP30” event in Panama City, attended by diplomats, UNEP representatives, and other stakeholders. Brazilian Embassy Counselor Gustavo Da Veiga Guimarães underscored COP30’s focus on climate finance, emission reduction, renewable energy transition, Amazon conservation, and climate justice for vulnerable populations. UNEP Deputy Regional Director Andrea Brusco highlighted the complexity and urgency of protecting ecosystems and communities, stressing that effective climate action must always prioritize the human dimension.
In a further demonstration of commitment, PARLATINO signed the Charter on Climate and the Environment for Humanitarian Organizations, promoted by IFRC and other humanitarian actors. The charter sets out a framework for promoting community resilience, adapting to new climate realities, and reducing environmental impact, reinforcing PARLATINO’s role as a regional leader in climate solutions that integrate legislative, humanitarian, and environmental perspectives.
