Guatemala's climate leadership met UK counterparts in a workshop to step up bilateral cooperation before COP30, the UK Government said. Vice Minister Edwin Castellanos led the Guatemalan delegation alongside Igor De la Roca, Secretary of the National Council of Protected Areas (CONAP), and Ambassador Rita Mishaan, the country's Climate Change Special Envoy, with officials from the British Embassy also in attendance.
Discussions focused on strengthening Guatemala's climate ambition through the forthcoming update to its Nationally Determined Contribution. The update will balance mitigation with adaptation, with priority attention on forests, water resources, agriculture, coastal areas, public health and infrastructure. Castellanos underlined the need to build resilience across these vulnerable systems, according to the government readout.
Ambassador Mishaan confirmed Guatemala's intent to engage constructively at COP30. She highlighted recent collaboration with the UK via the Cartagena Dialogue, a coalition of around 40 countries advocating for ambitious, low‑carbon action, and pointed to Guatemala's active role within AILAC, the eight‑country Latin American and Caribbean alliance with shared climate priorities.
Participants also examined four shared priorities: advancing National Adaptation Plans, tracking progress on the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA), increasing adaptation finance, and moving forward the loss and damage fund. The UK signalled continued support for a high‑ambition outcome at COP30 through close work with Brazil and regional partners.
For domestic policy teams, an NDC update requires refreshed sector targets, clear institutional responsibilities and stronger monitoring, reporting and verification. Forestry and water authorities will need to align actions with agriculture, coastal management, health and infrastructure planners so that adaptation measures are costed, timetabled and embedded in annual budgets.
Progress on National Adaptation Plans typically involves completing risk assessments, identifying priority measures and defining a financing strategy to deliver them. Embedding actions in sub‑national plans and improving climate data systems will be central to demonstrating results under the UN climate process.
Tracking the Global Goal on Adaptation depends on practical indicators and regular reporting to the UNFCCC. Policy teams often focus on measures such as forest cover, watershed security and continuity of essential services for health and infrastructure, helping ensure adaptation results are visible and comparable over time.
On finance, the workshop agenda covered both scaling investment for adaptation and operationalising the loss and damage fund. Clear project pipelines, robust fiduciary standards and reliable data will be important to convert sector plans into bankable proposals and signed commitments.
Both governments will maintain technical engagement ahead of COP30 in Brazil. According to the UK Government account, the workshop establishes a work programme across NDCs, National Adaptation Plans, GGA tracking and early steps on loss and damage to support higher ambition at the summit.