Argentina: Closing workshop focuses on transparency for mitigation and sustainable development

A workshop was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 26 July 2023, to mark the closure of the Initiative for Climate Action Transparency (ICAT) project in the country. The project supported Argentina in advancing national transparency in climate action with the purpose of developing effective policies to reduce emissions and achieve sustainable development objectives.

The event was organized by the National Directorate for Climate Change of the Argentinian Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development and served as an occasion for gathering national stakeholders and international experts for the presentation and validation of the ICAT project results.

The ICAT project in Argentina started in early 2020 and targeted multiple areas, including assessing the greenhouse gas impacts of the circular economy, analyzing the effect of COVID-19 on emissions, counting emissions from the health sector and linking climate action and sustainable development.

The project was implemented together with the National Directorate for Climate Change of the Argentinian Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre and ISPRA.

A good example for all relevant sectors

The results achieved through the ICAT project provide valuable information for public policies in Argentina. They also represent a novelty for the region and a good example of the need to advance in climate action in all relevant sectors.

Highlights from the results presented and validated in the workshop include:

• Assessment of the impacts of the circular economy, generating knowledge on how to improve the national inventory and strengthen the national information system;
• Evaluation of impacts and potential of disruptive innovations for sustainable development and transformational change, bringing the country closer to an effective long-term strategy to reach net zero;
• Improvement of the Argentinian Forest Land emission and removal inventory;
• Quantification of the emissions from the health sector, involving the Ministry of Health in climate action policy, and accounting for both the impacts of climate change in the sector as well as its role in mitigation;
• Assessment of the links and impacts of COVID-19 on climate change mitigation;
• Strengthening of the online national platform for the monitoring of climate action National Information System of Climate Change.

ICAT and Argentina are exploring additional needs in the field of transparency that can be addressed in a second ICAT project, to be launched in 2023. It will include extension and strengthening of the work accomplished in the first project, such as the health sector, and further target any other needs and priority areas in the country.