When thinking about the future, it is inevitable that the environment and the impact of climate change on citizens’ daily lives must also be taken into account. Imagining the coming decades, no one dares to ignore sustainability and engagement with rural communities. For this reason, PRISA Media América and Santillana, together with the University Externado de Colombia, the Regional Autonomous Body of Cundinamarca (CAR) and the Andean Development Corporation (CAF) – Development Bank of Latin America, have organized the first International Summit on Sustainability and Eco-Innovation, the most important event in the environmental sector of Latin America, which will take place this Wednesday, August 23, at the Ágora Convention Center in Bogotá.
The event begins at 8am Colombian time; seven in the morning in Mexico, nine in the morning in Washington, ten in Buenos Aires and three in the afternoon in Madrid. The installation will be carried out by Sergio Díaz-Granados, President of the CAF; Joseph Oughourlian, President of Prisa Group; Luis Fernando Sanabria Martínez, Director of the Central African Republic; Hernando Parra Nieto, Rector of Externado University; Susana Muhamad, Colombian Minister for the Environment; and Iván Name Vásquez, President of the Colombian Congress. Around thirty high-level speakers will address the challenges facing the region and the transition to a more sustainable and resilient world.
To this end, six major discussions are held. First, in “The Challenge of Sustainability in the 21st Century: Economy, Society, Private Sector and Environment”, the director of EL PAÍS, Pepa Bueno, will talk to Juan Carlos Mora, President of Bancolombia, about the responsibility of the private sector the environmental, social and economic challenges facing the region. This conversation will serve to provide a broad picture before more specific discussion rounds.
The first of these will be “The Challenges of Education in relation to the Sustainable Development Goals” (SDG). It will be moderated by Diana Calderón, director of Caracol Radio’s news program Medio Dia and Hora 20, who will chat with Gabriela Ramos, Deputy Director General for Social and Human Sciences at UNESCO; Jean Michel Blanquer, former French Minister of Education; Rosa Junquera, Director of Sustainability at PRISA; and Julio Cordero, Vice Minister of Education of the Dominican Republic. In a region with poor results in international educational comparisons and tests, the discussion will revolve around how to improve educational quality as a prerequisite for promoting sustainability in general.
In the third lecture For positive biodiversity in the face of climate change, several nature-based solutions will be addressed, led by EL PAÍS America Director Jan Martínez Ahrens. Laura Chinchilla, former President of Costa Rica; Rita de Cassia Mesquita, Biodiversity Secretary of the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment; Alicia Montalvo, Manager of Climate Action and Positive Biodiversity at CAF; Fabio Arjona, Executive Director of Conservation International of Colombia; and Mario Pardo Bayona, President of the Board of Directors of Asobancaria, the Banking Union of Colombia.
“Trying to mitigate the effects of climate change focuses on ending greenhouse gas emissions. And that is important, but we must also look for the solution in biodiversity,” explains Alicia Montalvo. “Focusing on sustainable development is also a different way of growing, producing and consuming.”
The discussion entitled ‘Sustainable Cities and Regions’ will take place later. Alejandro Santos, Prisa Media Colombia’s Content Director, will speak with Jaime Pumarejo, Mayor of Barranquilla. Led by Gustavo Gómez, director of 6 AM by Caracol Radio, the energy transition of the future will also be addressed. Óscar Bravo, President of Terpel; Luz Stella Murgas, President of Naturgas; Eugenio Calderón, Manager of ENEL Greenpower for Colombia and Central America; and Oliverio García, President of the National Association for Sustainable Mobility.
The event will end with the panel “Private sector facing the challenges of sustainable development” moderated by Gabriel De las Casas, Director of Caracol Sostenible and La Luciérnaga. He will speak to Gustavo Yepes, Director of Corporate Social Responsibility Management at Externado University; with Carolina Montoya, director of sustainability for Minsait Indra Company in the Andean region and the South Cone; with Daniela Puerta, Manager of Public Affairs, Communications and Sustainability for Coca-Cola in Colombia and Venezuela; with Samira Fadul, Vice President of Corporate and Legal Affairs at Bavaria Brewery, and with María Consuelo Castro, Sustainability Manager at Claro Colombia.
Likewise, Santillana Executive President Francisco Cuadrado will conduct a donation of school supplies to various educational institutions in Colombia, which he will present to Education Minister Aurora Vergara at the event. And there will be a speech by Ricardo Roa, President of Ecopetrol, on the topic of new energies to mitigate climate change. All of these events will be broadcast live on the various front pages of EL PAÍS America.