The environment and development are two indivisible issues. Our survival depends on the state of the natural environment, which provides us with irreplaceable goods and services free of charge, while the adverse environmental impacts of our activities on water, soil, the atmosphere and biodiversity increase inequity and vulnerability. This explains the numerous references to the environment in the 2030 Agenda, with seven specific SDGs relating to the environment, and the inclusion of this issue in almost all of the SDGs.
Spanish Cooperation's Sectoral Environmental Strategy and AECID's Sectoral Environmental Action Plan, which preceded the 2030 Agenda, must be revised, as stipulated in Spanish Cooperation's Fifth Master Plan (2018-2021), to bring them into line with the SDG Targets, with the Sendai Action Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, and with the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
During this period, AECID will seek to include environmental concerns in the humanitarian sphere. Moreover, it will promote synergies and partnerships, championing the importance of the regional approach and of institutional strengthening. Thus, Costa Rica's Technical Office will continue its work at the head of the regional ARAUCLIMA programme, while Spanish Cooperation's Training Centre in La Antigua (Guatemala), responsible for the environmental thematic community of the Intercoonecta knowledge management plan, will carry on with the regional project to manage the coastal risks associated with climate change. The environmental activity will be undertaken, in particular, in countries such as Haiti, Cuba, Ecuador and Costa Rica, as well as in Bolivia and Paraguay, among others, through initiatives linked to the Cooperation Fund for Water and Sanitation, which addresses reforestation and waste management. Spanish Cooperation will also continue to promote access to affordable and sustainable energy, through the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) Centre for Renewable Energies and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE), through the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in West Africa, and through CARICOM in the Caribbean. As regards delegated cooperation, efforts will be focused on the EUROCLIMA+ Programme, addressing droughts and floods, as well as the resilience of cities in the face of water-related problems caused by climate change in Latin America and the Caribbean. In Sub-Saharan Africa, Spanish Cooperation's work will be focused on energy efficiency and renewable energy sources through the Covenant of Mayors, by supporting several municipalities in that region. Finally, as a new development, the environment will be prioritized as a humanitarian concern.
Flagship interventions: