The Iris Unidos por el Cambio Foundation was presented this Thursday in Havana, and its objective will be to attract and channel financial resources to support national efforts in confronting the climate changeaccording to official media on the island.
The entity arises from the need to streamline the connections between the mechanisms that provide capital and the subjects that intervene in the execution of actions related to the protection environmentalsaid during the presentation Ulises Fernández, director of International Relations of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment (Citma), according to a report of the Prensa Latina (PL) agency.
@citmacuba held at the International Press Center press conference: Update on relevant issues of environmental policy and management. National and foreign media participate. @UlyssesF59042378 exposes the creation of the IRIS United for Climate Foundation. pic.twitter.com/QiFcwJwfFy
— Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment (@citmacuba) April 7, 2022
Despite having had significant international cooperation on these issues, the continuation of these efforts faces significant barriers, said the director, who mentioned the United States blockade as one of the causes that hinder access to financing and the required technologies, he points out the middle.
With the purpose of activating the institutional fabric, in line with the updating of the country’s economic model, the creation of the Iris Foundation was approved (its acronym refers to the words Research, Resilience, Innovation and Sustainability), whose benefits are necessary for nations like Cuba, a small island developing state with great vulnerabilities, said the official, quoted by PL.
On this basis, and in a context in which the country is boosting the economy, it is proposed to create the institution as part of the national architecture for confronting climate change, he remarked, the news agency underlines.
The new foundation would insert its work into the current process of decentralization of government management by enhancing capacities at the local level, while creating a space for consultation for actions and projects where all forms and economic actors actively intervene, he points out. PL.
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One of its foundations is based on maximizing the financial opportunities that a legal figure of this nature allows to receive and channel, without supplanting the roles of state institutions and other associations and legally constituted bodies, the publication clarifies.
The source emphasizes the strategy, which also seeks to intervene more directly and effectively in the implementation of climate actions with national actors.
Another purpose is to create its own and/or related capacities that allow the nascent organization to be recognized as a National Accredited Entity before the Green Climate Fund and other sources of climate financing, Citma sources said.
