Collaboration across sectors is key to addressing threats from climate change
Within the framework of the Forum “Climate emergency: immediate action for a more sustainable Dominican Republic”, organized by INTEC and ACCIONA, representatives of the public and private sectors and international organizations proposed solutions to the growing risks of climate change in the country.
SANTO DOMINGO. - Collaboration and alliance between public and private institutions, companies and organizations is a key factor that will allow us to face the consequences of climate change in the Dominican Republic, as evidenced by specialists on the subject during the Forum Climate emergency: immediate action for a more sustainable Dominican RepublicOrganized by the Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo (INTEC) and ACCIONA.
The event, held with the aim of reflecting on the conclusions of the recent United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP29) and how these translate into strategies applicable to the Dominican reality, invited representatives of different entities and organizations to evaluate best practices to face the threats of climate change in different areas, a space in which they insistently agreed on the importance of cooperating on the issues of adaptation and mitigation.
During the panel “The Path of Sustainability", Lizaira Bello, Coordinator of the PhD in Environmental Sciences, said that collaboration between different sectors is key to efficiently addressing the consequences of climate change, a comment that was echoed by Kathia Mejia, Executive Director of the National Business Support Network of ECORED.
Bello also highlighted the importance of research for the design of public policies. “More than 30 PhD students in Environmental Sciences focus on a topic with projects that offer and collect information to generate policies, strategies, improve processes, and regulations. The alliance is extremely important because we are stronger when we work together,” she said during the panel that was moderated by the Vice-Rector for Administration and Finance, Alliet Ortega.
“We are creating a critical mass of researchers in the Dominican Republic, innovating and developing more efficient technologies for sustainability,” Bello said.
Lucy Peralta, Director of Business Development for Mexico and Central America at ACCIONA Energy, emphasized that "as human beings, entities of society, companies, government, we have to focus our activities on three fundamental pillars: the use of clean energy, rational use of water and reduction of the carbon footprint."
Likewise, Mejía shared his perspective on behalf of the business association of more than 100 entities. “Since 2015, the private sector has been integrated into the Paris Agreement. Every day we have a business sector that is more concerned and occupied with advancing with good practices that are in line with all these goals,” he said.
Milagros De Camps, Sustainability Director of Interenergy Group, assured that the Adaptation to climate change is a priority issue, “because we are a highly vulnerable country and we have to find measures to be able to confront the impacts of climate change,” among which he mentioned the recent events of floods, forest fires and the need for supplies.
Referring to mitigation, he noted that the energy sectors (electricity and transport) are the main contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, which is why they are priority issues.
Federico Grullón, Climate Transparency Advisor of the National Council for Climate Change and Clean Development Mechanism, noted that the country has been working on climate change mitigation and adaptation measures since 1998, after ratifying the provisions of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which came into force in 1994.
“The country has made significant progress because there is encouragement and interest from the highest authority to implement and meet these goals,” he said after explaining that renewable energies have gone from more than 500 megawatts installed in 2022 to approximately more than 1,000 megawatts in 2023, increasing to 103%.
About the Forum
When starting the activity, the rector of INTEC, Julio Sánchez Maríñez, stressed the urgency of acting in a cohesive manner in the face of the climate risks affecting the country. “The Dominican Republic needs to coordinate joint efforts with various sectors to efficiently confront the manifestations of climate change on the island. Fulfilling its mission mandate, our university will always be available to contribute its experts, experience and research capabilities in this area.”
“Accelerating the fair energy transition and developing sustainable infrastructure is key to mitigating the effects of climate change. This requires new projects that renew and adapt the construction sector to this reality. Climate infrastructures, such as those related to energy, transport and the circular economy, represent an opportunity to advance towards decarbonisation through public-private collaboration.”, he pointed out in this regard Ángel Llorente, business development director for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean in ACCIONA's Infrastructure division during his intervention.
During the day, the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Paíno Henríquez, addressed the issue of sustainable soil management and the importance of combating desertification in the most vulnerable regions of the country.
While the second panel, called “Resilient Infrastructures for the Dominican Republic”, was moderated by Dr. Norberto Rojas, professor of the Engineering Department and expert in infrastructure at INTEC and panelists such as: Ángel Llorente; Yanelba Abreu, administrator of the Project for Strengthening Disaster Risk Management (PROGERI-RD) and José Muñoz Montero, engineer and general secretary of the Board of Directors of the Nucleus of Chemical Engineers of CODIA.
Among the topics discussed was the need to adopt comprehensive approaches to mitigate the impacts of global warming, promote long-term sustainability and ensure a safer future for generations to come.
INTEC It is a private, public, non-profit university founded on October 9, 1962. It is characterized by an innovative and forward-thinking academic offering, consisting of undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs.
ACCIONA is a global company and leader in providing regenerative solutions for a decarbonized economy.