The EU and Colombia have agreed to strengthen their partnership for the environment and sustainability ahead of the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15, Kunming), which is expected to conclude the ambitious post-2020 framework for global biodiversity later this year (see EUROPE 12910/20).
Visiting Colombia, where on Monday 25 April he began a tour of Latin American countries until 4 May, the European Commissioner for the Environment, Virginijus Sinkevičius - together with the Colombian Minister of the Environment, Carlos Eduardo Correa - officially launched a bilateral dialogue on the environment in order to prepare for the COP15 and to strengthen their partnership on the main priorities of sustainability.
“Colombia is an ecological superpower and a leading European Green Deal partner”, the Commissioner stressed, expressing his support “for the authorities’ efforts against deforestation, both legal and illegal”.
According to the EU delegation in Colombia, this dialogue will focus on technical cooperation and knowledge transfer to address climate change and biodiversity loss.
This is the first dialogue of the joint EU-Colombia declaration on the environment, climate action and sustainable development that the Commissioner and Carlos Eduardo Correa signed in Brussels on 14 February.
It focuses on shared priorities, such as climate action, biodiversity and ecosystem conservation, disaster risk reduction, combating deforestation, circular economy, sustainable blue economy and plastic pollution.
In addition to the Minister, the Commissioner met in Guaviare (in the Amazon) with indigenous communities, environmentalists and representatives from the private sector.
On Tuesday 26 April, the Commissioner was due to meet the President, Iván Duque Márquez, to “explore ways of strengthening the EU-Colombia relationship as a strategic partnership”.
The Commissioner will fly to Brazil on Wednesday afternoon (until 30 April), then travel to Argentina and finish his tour in Uruguay. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)