Argentine Network of Municipalities against Climate Change

By Charlotte Owen-Burge | June 30, 2021

The “Argentine Network of Municipalities against Climate Change” (RAMCC) was created during the First International Conferences “Municipalities and Climate Change” held in the city of Monte Caseros, Corrientes, from November 25 to November 27, 2010. The RAMCC is an instrument for the coordination and promotion of local public policies fighting climate change in Argentina’s cities and towns.

OBJECTIVE

The implementation of projects or programs at local, regional or national level relating to the mitigation of and/or adaptation to climate change through the mobilization of local, national, and international resources.

ACTIVITIES

The RAMCC’s member municipalities share learning and tools to help them increase the impact of their actions. To that end:

  • They train themselves and collaborate on the creation of projects, programs and local ordinances (Local Plan for Climate Action, Programs for the Full Management of Urban Solid Waste, etc.).
  • They organize face-to-face events (Meetings, Conferences, Seminars, etc.) in the municipalities adhering to the RAMCC in order to bring forward proposals and disclose the results they have achieved.
  • They share resource sources and funding opportunities.
  • They organize communicatively to make their good practices known.
  • They collaborate with governments at provincial and national levels to facilitate talks and the adoption of agreed decisions in their fields of interest.
  • They conduct collective activities to show the impact of their organized actions.
  • They collaborate with other municipal networks from other countries to exchange experiences.

MEMBER MUNICIPALITIES AND TOWNS

The RAMCC is currently composed of 225 municipalities and towns from all over the country. Their governments are spread over 19 provinces. The Network encompasses a wide range of realities and includes cities over 1 million inhabitants, as well as small inland towns. In this specific context, actions are called for in urban areas where approximately 12 million people live.

This diversity allows the Network to address a heterogeneous variety of environmental issues and make the challenges scalable and national. Furthermore, diversity is also found in productive, geographical, and demographic issues –among others– which are indicative of the wide range of opportunities and actions promoted by the RAMCC to tackle climate change.

LOCAL PLANS FOR CLIMATE ACTION

Cities have gained importance in climate-related actions owing to their direct on-site interventions and their proximity with residents and institutions. For that reason, one of the actions spurred on by the Network is the development of Local Plans for Climate Action (PLAC). At present, RAMCC has elaborated 40 PLACs and over 180 green house gas inventories.

RAMCC IS NATIONAL COORDINATOR OF THE GLOBAL COVENANT OF MAYORS (GCoM)

The Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy is an international partnership of local governments sharing the long-term vision of promoting and supporting voluntary action to fight climate change and become a low-emitting and resilient society. To date, it is composed of over 10 thousand cities and villages from all over the world, 155 of which are members of the RAMCC.

On May 12, 2017, the European Union (EU), by way of a project known as International Urban Cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbean (IUC-LAC), has appointed the RAMCC as National Coordinator. In this context, the RAMCC undertakes to foster the adherence of new municipalities and to collaborate in honoring the commitments laid out in the Covenant

RAMCC became member of the Climate Ambition Alliance in COP25, and trhough this membership it has joined the Race To Zero and Cities Race To Zero campaigns.
The Network has activly participated on the R2Z’s meetings for the definition of a criteria to reach net zero emissions by 2050,and it is cointuinously promoting among its over 220 municipalities the importance of becoming carbon neutral by 2050.

Sustainable daytime: the First National Green Entrepreneurs Craft Fair was held in Correa (Santa Fe, Argentina)

On Saturday, march 27th the First National Green Entrepreneurs Craft Fair was held in Correa, Santa Fe province. The initiative was organised by Correa City Council, the Argentinian Network of Municipalities facing Climate Change (RAMCC) and the Green Entrepreneurs Network (reVer), with the European Union and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Foundation’s support.

The craft fair had many stands for the fair-goers, a gastronomic point, workshops for the community and cultural shows. This was a great stage for the participants to share different experiences of entrepreneurship from all over the country and the activities were streamed live.

The event was attended by mayors and representatives of the European Union Delegation in Argentina: Luca Pierantoni, Head of the Cooperation and Pablo Iglesias Rumbo, Advisor of the Cooperation Projects.

In this context, Luca Pierantoni said: “Climate Change is a global challenge and the European Union has a new policy called European Green Pact that encourages a sustainable production model”. He also said that “creating an exchange between Argentina and the European Union is beneficial for both sides”. “Being in Santa Fe is a great pleasure considering the importance that  the province has for this country”, continued. “We believe in this project and I am pleasantly surprised by the quality we have reached: we had a very positive impression”, concluded.

Chufa Sustentable is one of the entrepreneurs that attended the fair. They prepare personal care and house decoration products, among others. The owner of this local business highlighted some aims: “We want to build a greener economy because we believe that we must recover the planet and create a more sustainable community that takes care of biodiversity”. The  Bioenre Organic Fertilizers attended too and its owner said that a sustainable green economy needs to be the way to lead.

Moreover, the manager of natural cosmetic business “Juni Perá” mentioned that their plan is to make sustainable products to take care of the planet and also to make us all realize that we actually don’t need that much for well-being.

“Maravillosa serendipia” is another business that produces notebooks and their creators commented that they have various sustainable practices. “We believe that having an impact project for the community is very important”, said one of the members. On the other hand, “Amorina Lanitas” is an entrepreneurship that makes sustainable diapers and they marked “the importance of working in ecological projects for future generations”.

During daytime, the RAMCC and European Union signed a cooperation agreement to promote green jobs in Argentina. It is an alliance settled on with Wageningen University & Research, the Italian Chamber of Commerce in  Rosario and the RAMCC. The project will be developed during three years in cities which the Municipal Government is part of the Network. The objective of this cooperation is to generate public-private tools that promote the creation and strengthening of green jobs in Argentine cities, in order to improve social inclusion and decent working conditions, preserve the environment and strengthen local and regional economies.

Green jobs are the basis of the transition to a green economy, based on sustainable development. This aims to improve human well-being, contribute to social equity and reduces the pressure on ecosystems. These jobs are set on a low carbon economy and this contributes to the general objective of combating Climate Change.

These green entrepreneurs have a badge from “ReVer” that identifies local businesses and products that promotes a fair and sustainable economy in theirs developments and trades. Besides, they are geographically mapped on the RAMCC website, which is widely disseminated among contacts and institutional partners of the network.