The capital of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, in Rio Grande do Norte, has been chosen to host the 2nd ICLEI Northeast Regional Meeting, which begins on the 12th and runs until April 15th. The theme of the event, in-person and exclusively for associates and guests, it is “Cities, Climate and Nature”. 

The 2nd ICLEI Northeast Regional Meeting continues with the objective of bringing together local governments associated with the global Network and their partners, to enhance local and regional actions with an agenda focused on debating and creating cooperation opportunities in the region. 

The first edition of the event took place in João Pessoa (Paraíba), in June of last year. At the time, there were over 250 participants and more than 30 speakers, with over 14 hours of discussions on various themes. Among them: Climate Compliance, Climate Crisis, Intergovernmental Articulation, Sustainable Solutions for the Northeast, Electromobility, Biodiversity, Environmental Licensing and Marine Litter.

Stop Rodrigo Perpétuo, Executive Secretary of ICLEI South America, the 2nd ICLEI Northeast Regional Meeting aims to promote high-level discussions, fostering the sharing of best practices, the presentation of successful experiences and lessons learned from projects and other actions implemented to improve the climate and biodiversity agenda in Northeast Brazil. “And thus, promote exchanges between public administration bodies and entities, civil society, non-governmental entities, companies, universities and representative groups such as youth. With a view to strengthening the capacities of local governments against the climate crisis and the loss of biodiversity.”

The ICLEI Meetings are a demonstration of the commitment made by participating local governments, their sponsors and promoters, to the sustainable urban development of the region, adding institutional value for the stakeholders involved.

Alliance for Climate Action

Natal's accession to the “Aliança para Ação Climática Brasil (ACA Brasil)”, the first official act of the Potiguar Meeting, during the opening ceremony on April 12th, is one of the already confirmed activities. 

The signing marks the city's commitment to being part of national coalitions dedicated to undertaking systematised action, and increasing public support in tackling the global climate crisis, in order to contribute to countries meeting the commitments agreed in the Paris Agreement (2015).

In its strategy for 2023, ACA Brazil will work with the central theme of “Transparency”. In its coordination, five institutions have joined together at the subnational level to oversee the implementation of the Alliance: WWF Brazil; ICLEI South America; Climate and Society Institute; CDP Latin America and Brazil Climate Centre.

Programming 

Opening the technical programme, on April 13th, there will be a roundtable discussion in the morning on the event's main theme: “Cities, Climate and Nature”. Following this, another roundtable will take place on “Protected Areas: beyond nature conservation”.

The panels confirmed for the afternoon are: “Solutions for Urban Centres: the role of multilateral development banks”; “Mitigation and Adaptation in Northeastern Cities”; and “Dialogues for Resilience and Risk Management”.

The programme for the 2nd ICLEI Northeast Regional Meeting is also integrated into the 1st Potiguar Climate Conference (COP Clima), which will bring together during the same period in the capital of Rio Grande do Norte specialists from the four public universities of the state, representatives from the 167 municipalities of the state, as well as students and environmentalists to discuss the challenges and possibilities for mitigating environmental degradation, particularly experienced in the semi-arid Northeast.

During the Climate COP, in the early evening also on the 13th, the “More Circular Christmas Session” takes place, when Natal will sign its adherence to the Circular Cities Declaration of Latin America and the Caribbean, promoted with the support of ICLEI and which aims to promote the acceleration of the circular economy in the territories. 

Launched in October 2021 as part of the “X Italy-Latin America and Caribbean Conference”, the Declaration is an initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Italian Republic, with the support of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the Italo-Latin American International Organisation (IILA), Enel and ICLEI.

On the last day of the Potiguar Gathering, 15th April, concluding the programme, there will be a technical visit to the Potengi River. 

Access the full schedule here.

Partnerships

The 2nd ICLEI Northeast Regional Meeting is held by ICLEI South America, Natal City Hall e Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), and co-organised by the National Forum of Secretaries and Deputy Secretaries of the Environment of Brazilian Capitals (CB27), Konrad Adenauer Foundation e I COP Clima Potiguar.

The initiative also has the partnership of MRV, a partner company of ICLEI in 2023, from Sebrae-RN, Fecomércio-RN, Marina Badauê, Holiday Inn Natal Hotel, Recycle RN, Natal Yacht Club, New Look Sustainability e CREA-RN. are media partners TV University (TVU) and Universitária FM (FMU).

Institutional support is from the European Union through the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (GCoM Americas), the Making Cities Resilient 2030 (MCR2030), Disclosure Insight Action (CDPand the Alliance for Climate Action Brazil (ACA Brazil).