Latin America and the Caribbean: visions and roadmaps towards a good life in low carbon, resilient societies.

United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)
Learning by Doing (LBD) – Energeia
Santiago, Chile
February 27th to March 3rd 2023

Organised by
Energeia, Learning by Doing Project (LBD)
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)
Where: ECLAC
Santiago, Chile

Conceptual note:

Following the Paris agreements, every country has agreed nationally determined contributions (NDCs) for mitigation and adaptation towards 2030. Some countries are advancing longer term low carbon development strategies, and integrating them with a more general vision of development in 2050. The implementation of these NDCs and long-term strategies (LTS) will require long term visions that serve as guides, with pathways that link them to the present. This seminar will examine the political economy and incentives that aim towards patterns of consumption with low carbon output, where a good life and society serves as a guide. Achieving this requires an identification of the possi­ble pathways compatible with national development objectives, in addition to an evaluation of their socio-economic effects, whilst developing a political philosophy conducive to achieving our stated ends.

This seminar is advanced in the context of activities supported by the Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLAC), the Network of Iberoamerican Offices for Climate Change (RIOCC for its Spanish initials) and Energeia. It is organised by ECLAC and Energeia, in coordination with the Spanish Office for Climate Change. The seminar will have a hybrid structure.

The meeting aims to debate and learn about visions, strategies and economic instruments/regulations that com­bine a search for a good life with a contribution towards low carbon, resilient societies. A fundamental question is if visions of good life and climate policies may serve as a guide to help drive sustainable development, and what combinations of these policies are compatible with such good life visions. Likewise, this approach hopes to start a conversation about how one can imagine this transition towards a 2050 future in a society that is compatible with those objectives.

The Learning by Doing (LBD) project seeks to develop viable visions of a good life in feasible and appealing societies compatible with a limit of a 2 – 1,5 ºC rise in temperature, in specific places; and to use these visions as a guide to facilitate the combination of scenario development with climate and economic modelling. This is advanced with the aim of facilitating learning and discovering new approaches, whilst engaging in focused, collaborative investigation. The project wants to facilitate changes in action and in mindsets in different countries; to see things differently, and thus act accordingly.

To learn more visit: https://www.learningbydoingproject.org.

Group Objective

The meeting will invite government officials, academics, researchers and other experts or specialists interested in the creation of Long-Term strategies and visions, interested in the development of visions centred around the quality of our lives, and the evaluation, design and implementation of associated economies and policies. We hope that the seminar may be able to produce new approximations to address climate change and its relation to economic growth, wellbeing and other cultural and socio-economic factors. We hope the seminar can discover new ways to address these problems by encouraging the participants to share their opinions and experiences in the design and implemen­tation of approaches and instruments with regards to these topics.

Topics of Conversation:

  • The development of a vision of a society and of a ‘good life’ in the future in the region, and its implications for immediate climate action and its relation with NDCs and Long-Term strategies.
  • The state of crisis in the region and the necessity of adaptation.
  • Elements to orientate a public philosophy in the region which may aim and underpin these visions.
  • Long term strategies of development and knowledge management that are low carbon.
  • Risk of transition and the physical risks of climate change with the inclusion in political economies and their social consequences.
  • The relation between public philosophies, public policies and the structure of the political economy that follows.
  • The financing of climate action.
  • The tools of prospective and retrospective analysis for future visions and scenarios.
  • Other areas of intervention or discussion.

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