Pablo Retamal

The Embassy in Santiago going green

In May, we were asked by London to calculate our carbon footprint, put together a Green team and bring to fruition a Green Action Plan.

The latter has all been achieved. The Green Team brings together an interested number of staff that willingly contribute green ideas. Our first meeting allowed us to identify quick and easy environmental gains for the embassy. This was a debated and fruitful brainstorm that generated many ideas. More then 50 ideas were jotted down and later developed into a Green Action Plan that was handed in to our DHM, Russell.

This participatory body is a fantastic contribution to the already existing green officer role. An added advantage of having a Green Team is that we are now able to sound out green initiatives before they are presented to embassy staff.

The next Green Team Meeting will take place once we hear back from London about our Green Action Plan proposal. The green action plan proposal includes among others, a Greening the Residence Project, alternative embassy transport scheme and a trash recycle project.

Tips for going green

www.bbc.co.uk/bloom/
Want to tackle climate change, but not sure how? Bloom gives you simple green tips, like air drying your laundry, to unthinkable suggestions like greening your funeral.

www.carbonrally.com
This site posts challenges to motivate you to reduce your carbon footprint, like cutting your shower time by two minutes. You can compete on your own or as part of a team.

www.carbonfootprint.com
Tips on reducing your carbon footprint and how to calculate it.

www.wholetravel.com
Want to travel green? This site allows you to research for sustainable transportation, hotels and vacation ideas.

Posted at 16:59 27 October 2009 by Pablo Retamal  |  Comments[0]

Latin American officers challenge climate change in Santiago

The South American Climate Change Network has been operational since June 2009 and is led by Peter Bainbridge in Brasilia. In the past year we have been successful in implementing a climate change programme that aims at impacting December’s UNFCCC meeting in Denmark (COP 15). More than 180 countries will meet in Copenhagen to thrash out a new international deal  designed to tackle the greatest emerging humanitarian challenge of our time.

16 regional climate change attachés joined the third regional conference of its kind. Representatives from Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Uruguay, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia and Venezuela (virtually) were present in Santiago. The event kicked-off with a three day meeting about the Regional Economic Climate Change Studies at the United Nations’ Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). Our attachés had a unique opportunity to tap into the latest thinking and know the state of affairs for each of their respective countries.

After a valuable three days at ECLAC the group reassembled at the British Embassy. The objective was to evaluate progress to date on the implementation of the Regional South America Climate Change Strategy, in the run-up to Copenhagen, drawing on experiences from the region and beyond. 

Peter Bainbridge ensured that the Network remained updated on London’s strategic thinking on climate change. We were also able to evaluate success from our Strategic Programme Fund projects and consider longer-term projects beyond Copenhagen to help the region move towards a low-carbon economy. Here in Santiago, we have ensured the latter by co-ordinating a series of visits from top UK sector specialists. We have been able to share UK developments with government, private sector and academic stakeholders that will be taking tomorrow’s decisions as to Chile’s energy and climate future.

Some examples of the people who have visited Chile are:

-David Vincent (Carbon Trust, Project Director)
-David Ockwell (Sussex  University, Technology transfer expert)
-Tony Marmont (Beacon Energy)
-Richard Burrett ( Corporate Leader’s Group, Senior Adviser)
-James Painter (BBC, Senior Editor on Climate Change)

Posted at 12:35 22 October 2009 by Pablo Retamal  |  Comments[0]

Blog Action Day: Climate Change - Meet our Climate Change Bloggers in Chile

In Santiago we are three proactive bloggers dedicated to sharing our latest climate change activities. We have been live for about a month but managed to cover various of our road to COP 15 activity.

Our specialist bloggers are:
 
Maria Jose Riquelme: Political & Projects Officer, Sociologist and been with the FCO for over 6 years. She has specialised in climate change and sustainable development and leads the way in Chile.
 
Monica Eggers: UKTI Commercial Officer, Monica knows all the in's and out's on renewable energy. Her longterm experience on a variety of issues provides our climate change blog with expert stories on the latest technologies and worthwhile initiatives.   
 
Pablo Retamal: Climate Change Officer, Development Studies, and a huge fan of the work my colleagues carry out at Santiago Post. As a matter of fact, I am such a huge fan I tend to blog to make sure our team efforts do not pass unpercieved. Chile offers a unique situation and our accomplishments have not been minor.
 
Since our Blog is dedicated to climate change I encourage all of you to read what we have already blogged and hope you enjoy our post's contributions. See more Foreign Office Climate Conversations.

Posted at 12:11 15 October 2009 by Pablo Retamal  |  Comments[0]