JICA-RI Director Attends Meetings in Four Latin American Countries to Promote How Japan is Tackling Climate Change

From October 18 to November 1, lecture meetings aimed to promote understanding of Japan, hosted by the Japanese diplomatic missions, were held in the four Latin American countries of Panama, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Cuba. JICA-RI Senior Research Fellow Akio Hosono was invited to present Japan's work in tackling climate change before the environment ministers, government officials, and academics in attendance at the meetings.

Being geographically prone to the effects of climate change, Central America and the Caribbean contains many of the ten most vulnerable countries in the world. Guatemala and El Salvador, for example, have been repeatedly hit by droughts and hurricanes over the past few years. In 2009, Hurricane Ida, one of the largest in the past hundred years, caused substantial damage in both of these countries.

Hosono shared Japan's financial and technical assistance framework in handling climate change, such as the “Hatoyama Initiative" and the "Cool Earth Partnership," and explained about the country’s efforts in clean energy/energy-saving technologies and the “3R Campaign.” He introduced JICA's BOSAI (disaster prevention) project in Central America and the Caribbean and spoke of its achievements in disaster mitigation, which include the installation of early warning systems and the reinforcement of levees.

Reflecting on the lectures, Hosono says, "There is clearly a high level of interest in climate change among many people, including government officials and academics. By being directly exposed to a wide range of ideas and views, I was able to confirm that JICA-RI's research on capacity development (CD) can also be effective in tackling global issues such as adaptation for climate change."

Members of the press were also present at the lectures. The Antigua Channel of Guatemala aired a 20 minute program on Hosono's interview, and Panama's leading newspaper, "La Prensa," featured the lecture as the top news on its financial page. It proved to be a great opportunity to spread JICA's assistance projects and Japan's efforts for climate change to the local people.