Panamanian President Laurentino Cortizo, shown here at a ceremony marking the creation of an indigenous autonomous region, has been a leading voice in Latin America for climate action. (Photo courtesy of Environment Ministry)
Panama has strengthened its greenhouse-gas-reduction commitments, presenting what experts view as a more ambitious set of climate goals than those it originally announced in 2016 in connection with the Paris Agreement. The targets were released in December in a 136-page update of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), the voluntary goals Paris signatories must set and periodically revisit. “This new report has a vision that integrates adaptation and mitigation,” says Ligia Castro de Doens, the Environment Ministry’s national director of climate change. “We are going through an energy transition toward a more sustainable mix and we have incorporated commitments to not only reforest, but to work with communities and businesses to preserve what has already been reforested.” The government plans to reduce emissions in its energy sector by 11.5% by 2030 and 24% by 2050, preventing 60 million tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere over the... [Log in to read more]
