15 February 2011: UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres addressed the Conference of the Secretariat General Iberoamericana (SEGIB), which took place in Madrid, Spain, on 15 February 2011, and emphasized the need for Latin America to capitalize on the opportunities for adaptation and mitigation action, particularly through the Cancun Agreements.

In her address titled “Implementing Cancun: Latin America’s role in taking climate change to the next level,” Figueres stated that the Cancun Agreements constituted “a big step for the community of nations” because of the following achievements: they form the foundation for the most far reaching collective effort to reduce carbon emissions; they include the most comprehensive package ever agreed by governments to help developing nations deal with climate change; and they provide the strongest signal countries have ever given to the private sector that we are moving toward low-carbon economies.

Figueres observed however, that these achievements are “only a small step for the planet, ” stressing amongst other things, the lack of agreement on the year in which global emissions need to peak. She also discussed the “huge potential” for renewable energy generation due to natural endowment of Latin America and mentioned forests as opportunity for the region to “take climate change implementation to the next level through the Cancun Agreements.” [UNFCCC Executive Secretary Figueres’ Speech]