CINTHIA SOTO SENIOR CLIMATE CHANGE ADVOCACY OFFICER
Wetlands International delegation at the Peatland Pavilion.
Second, negotiators reached agreement on Article 6, the essential rulebook for voluntary international cooperation, including carbon trading under the Paris Agreement. By providing a UN-approved pathway to help governments reach their NDCs, including through the involvement of non-states actors, there is now an enabling environment for wetlands conservation and restoration that should help unlock public and private finance. Besides the vital importance of wetlands in mitigating climate change, there was also a growing recognition in Glasgow that wetlands can help countries and communities adapt to climate change through buffering the impact of droughts, floods, storms and rising sea levels. This role has yet to be reflected in international climate funding. UNEP estimates that only about one percent of total climate finance has gone into nature-based adaptation, and wetlands received only a fraction of that. The bad news is that wetlands are still being lost faster than any other ecosystems worldwide. The good news is that the commitments made by governments in Glasgow could quickly change that.
I am Cinthia Soto – I am Costa Rican, but have lived in the Netherlands for nine years. As Senior Climate Change Advocacy Officer with Wetlands International, I have the privilege to work within an exciting international environment. I’ve had many opportunities to connect with people from different cultures, backgrounds and walks of life. Also, I support the goals of Wetlands International as an organisation, and I value the balance between what needs to be done, and what we can actually do about it. We do provide solutions to the challenges we identify - we do not just stay at the finger-pointing stage, we go far beyond that as solution builders, conveners, and partners. In my current position, I work to increase the role of wetlands in climate change action. I promote Nature-based Solutions, support capacity development internally and externally, and promote policies that can increase funding for wetlands, all of which have an impact on our 2030 targets. I am pleased to say that I led our involvement in the UNFCCC/COP26 in Glasgow, where we organised our Peatland Pavilion, and increased visibility by actively engaging with our partners and other environmental organisations. While we recognise that transformational change is necessary, we understand that there is no perfect solution to the environmental challenges that we are currently facing, as problems are often interlinked. At Wetlands International, we contribute from different angles, we test solutions on the ground and we propose evidence-based policies. We are not going to reach targets for the conservation and restoration of wetlands in isolation - we need to work with governments, the private sector, financial institutions, NGOs, and other relevant bodies.
For more information on our work at COP26, visit: https://www.wetlands.org/cop26/
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Wetlands International Annual Review 2021
Wetlands International Annual Review 2021
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