Vice-President of Bolivia visits the UK to advance bilateral climate action
The governments of the UK and Bolivia work together to deepen their partnership on climate and nature, to protect Bolivia's forests and biodiversity.
UK's Foreign Secretary David Cameron and Bolivian Vice-President Choquehuanca
The governments of the UK and Bolivia signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen co-operation on climate action, during a successful high-level visit of the Bolivian Vice-President to London.
From 11-13 March the UK welcomed Mr. David Choquehuanca for his first official visit from Bolivia as Vice-President. Vice-President Choquehuanca has been a leading voice on the indigenous philosophy of “living well in harmony with Mother Earth” for several years. The Vice-Presidency is currently coordinating actions by the Bolivian government related to forest protection and climate finance.
The Vice-President met with Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, Rt Hon Lord David Cameron, Minister of State (Climate, Environment and Energy – joint with FCDO and Defra), Rt Hon Lord Benyon, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Americas, Caribbean, and the Overseas Territories) David Rutley MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Nuclear and Renewables) Andrew Bowie MP, and parliamentarians of the House of Lords and the House of Commons with a profound interest in Latin America and Bolivia.
He also visited the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, attended a roundtable at Canning House and met with several organizations in the field of sustainable finance.
Minister of State (Climate, Environment and Energy – joint with FCDO and Defra), Rt Hon Lord Benyon said:
I am delighted to have met Vice President Choquehuanca and signed a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at deepening the partnership between the UK and Bolivia on climate and nature.
The UK is committed to working closely with the Bolivian government in their endeavour to protect Bolivia’s forests and biodiversity, which are of global importance.
Bolivian Vice-President, David Choquehuanca said:
My visit to London responded to our people’s demand that their authorities build bridges of brotherhood, cooperation, and complementarity to jointly address new challenges, thinking about our future generations and life on our planet.
This visit reflects the growing partnership between Bolivia and the United Kingdom and the increasing level of cooperation on environment, nature, climate finance, energy transition and critical minerals.
The visit and the signing of the MoU follow the visit of COP26 President Alok Sharma to Bolivia in 2021 and the participation of the Bolivian delegation led by President Luis Arce at COP26 in Glasgow.
Details of the memorandum of understanding
The agreement provides a framework for the two countries to work together on climate and biodiversity. This includes reducing greenhouse gas emissions by sharing knowledge and experiences.
The agreement covers the following areas of cooperation:
- Strengthening Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) systems for climate change.
- Halting and reversing deforestation and tackling environmental crime.
- Enabling improved access to internationally available financial support to tackle climate change.
- Understanding, valuing, and promoting the sustainable use of biodiversity.
- Promoting green finance and sustainable infrastructure.
- Support Indigenous Peoples and local communities on sustainable forest management practices and the development of sustainable land use business models.
- Strengthen the land tenure security and forest governance practices of Amazonian indigenous people and local communities.
Minister of State (Climate, Environment and Energy – joint with FCDO and Defra), Rt Hon Lord Benyon and the Secretary General of the Vice-presidency, Juan Carlos Alurralde, signed the memorandum of understanding on 11 March 2024 in London.