Guy Edwards is Research Fellow at the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society and Codirector of the Climate and Development Lab, Brown University, and an associate at the global think tank, Nivela. He has a MA degree in Latin American Areas Studies from the University of London and has worked for the Overseas Development Institute, the consultancy River Path Associates and as the resident manager of the Huaorani Ecolodge in the Ecuadorian Amazon. He is the co-author of a new book (with Timmons Roberts) called A Fragmented Continent: Latin America and the global politics of climate change with MIT Press (November, 2015).
Marcela Jaramillo is Policy Advisor on Climate Finance at E3G, and an associate at the global think tank, Nivela. She specialises in strategic climate finance approaches that drive transformational change at national and international level, in particular within Latin America. She has a BSc in Mechanical Engineering, specialising in the field of energy, from the Universidad Nacional of Colombia and an MSc with distinction in Sustainable Energy Technologies from the University of Southampton. In the past Marcela worked within the energy sector leading research, design and implementation of renewable energy systems.
Peruvian and French leaders, ministers and diplomats are working closely together in the run up to the United Nations climate change conference in Paris. This constructive diplomacy, if matched by other EU and CELAC countries, could tip the balance in Paris in favor of a transformative new global agreement on climate change.
With a total of 61 countries spanning the global North and South, the EU and CELAC countries can attempt to locate areas of convergence and compromise, and form an alliance for an equitable, fair and ambitious legally binding agreement. Together both regions can push for a new agreement that sends a clear and authoritative message to the private sector and industry that the transition to a low-emission and climate resilient future is necessary, feasible and beneficial to us all. (Read paper)