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STATEMENT OF EL SALVADOR ROUND-TABLE ON CLIMATE CHANGE1

IN THE ABSENCE OF PUBLIC INFORMATION ON THE DEGREE OF PROGRESS IN THE PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION OF EL SALVADOR STATES CONTRIBUTION, TO THE PROCESS OF NEGOTIATION OF A NEW

GLOBAL AGREEMENT ON CLIMATE CHANGE, TO BE ADOPTED LATE 2015 IN PARIS

The Salvadoran State has acquired international commitments and obligations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (the Convention), which is secondary law of the Republic, that in its Art. 4.1 (b) stipulates obligations regarding the development of national and local mitigation and adaptation programs, and in its Art. 12, para. 1, 4 and 6, requires the submission of National Communications for report quadrennially on the progress of compliance with these obligations; especially after 2010, when in Cancun all developing countries States agreed to adopt national mitigation commitments and to submit biennial update reports of their national greenhouse gas inventories and national mitigation actions,

As part of negotiations of a new global agreement to be signed within the framework of the 21st Conference of the Parties late 2015 in Paris, all member states of the Convention adopted the obligation to officially submit, during the first quarter of 2015, their "Intended Nationally Determined Contributions" (INDC), which includes a package of policies and measures for mitigation and adaptation, to strengthen existing commitments of each Party to achieve the ultimate objective of the Convention through ambitious measures for real and effective mitigation, and appropriate adaptation. The failure to timely submission of INDC by the States, referred to as developing countries, could become conditionality for access to technical and financial resources required for their implementation.

As per the Inter-American Convention and the United Nations Convention against Corruption , the Salvadoran State recognizes that transparency, the right of access to information, the right to citizen participation and the obligation of authorities to accountability of governance, are suitable tools to prevent, detect , punish and eradicate corruption i. In that line, the Law on Access to Public Information constitutes an initial step in the transformation of the state, whose effectiveness should be evaluated in order to improve it, in terms of citizen participation, efficiency of public administration, fight against corruption and generation of a culture of transparency.

The Five-Year Development Plan 2014-2019 (PQD) states as one of its objectives "Moving toward an economy and society environmentally sustainable and resilient to the effects of climate change", being one of the strategies to achieve it "reducing environmental and socioeconomic vulnerability to the effects of climate change and natural phenomena, increasing resilience of the territories". In this subject, the PQD raises that coordinated and structured responses are required, such as the formulation of the First National Climate Change Planii. It also states that "the State should strengthen citizen participation" and "provide a set of public goods and services to ensure the rule of human rights that will guide its actions".

Taking fully into account that:

i. Public power emanates from people and officials are its delegates, because of which citizens are entitled to know the information derived from the government administration and public resources management, and therefore, public officials are required to act with transparency and accountability,

ii. Transparency and access to public information are basic conditions for effective citizen participation, which contributes to the strengthening of public institutions and citizens themselves, to improve the quality of democracy and the full rule of law,

iii. Failure to comply with the commitments and obligations under the Convention, could lead to the violation of human rights enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic and international law and the imposition of barriers to access to resources that would be available to address climate change,

1 Space formed in September 2013 by Salvadoran social organizations, to facilitate from a socio-political perspective, the exchange, debate and articulation of knowledge, positions and proposals for mitigation and adaptation measures to face climate change; and it has the support of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in El Salvador

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iv. El Salvador Round-Table on Climate Change is a space that fosters dialogue and debate, and in that line, the Minister and

Deputy Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Foreign Minister and Deputy Minister for Development Cooperation, were invited to inform its member organizations on the degree of progress in the preparation and submission of the INDC of the Salvadoran State; whereupon no replay was obtained from such officials.

El Salvador Round-Table on Climate Change URGES:

The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARN), in his capacity as National Focal Point of the Salvadoran State to the Convention, to:

(a) Report in a public, transparent and underpinned manner on the degree of progress in the preparation of the INDC the Salvadoran State should officially present during the first quarter of 2015, considering that the presentation of the INDC by all Parties must be made well in advance of the 21st Conference of the Parties in Parisiii,

(b) Justify through a public report, in case of foreseeing failure in complying the deadline for the INDC submission, setting out the measures that would be taken to fill the gaps in form and content; ensuring its official presentation before October 1st 2015, so that they are incorporated into the synthesis report on the aggregate effect of the INDC of all parties, the Conventions secretariat will be publishing no later than 1st November 2015iv,

(c) Develop and submit, in an underpinned, clear and comprehensible manner, the INDC according to the adoptedv content and form, and through the agreed mechanism for this purpose; based on inventories, assessments, and climate change, impacts, emissions, adaptation and mitigation baseline and future scenarios; for which the MARN has received in advance the required financial and technical-methodological resources,

(d) Justify the level of ambition of the INDC in the light of national conditions of the country and the need to contribute to the achievement of the objective of the Convention, including a component on adaptation policies and measuresvi, given the high vulnerability, and current and potential impacts of climate change in El Salvador,

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the exercise of its jurisdiction to formulate and conduct foreign policy of El Salvador, to assist and advise the MARN, the cabinet of management of environmental sustainability and vulnerability, as well as other relevant public bodies, in policies, strategies, plans, programs and projectsvii, specifically on the compliance with international commitments and obligations on climate change; and to assume its share of the responsibility and leadership, required for this purpose, as appropriate, The cabinet of management of environmental sustainability and vulnerability, in the exercise of its function of coordinating actions to prevent, mitigate and eliminate the vulnerabilities of the country against natural and anthropogenic phenomenaviii, to secure the timely, underpinned and participative implementation and incorporation of the INDC, in the Five-Year Development Plan 2014-2019 and the National Plan on Climate Change; and ensure the allocation of required human capabilities and resources for its effective and timely implementation,

The Technical and Planning Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic and the Secretary of Citizen Participation, Transparency and Anti-corruption, in the framework of its powers in planning and monitoring the Five-Year Development Plan 2014-2019 -of which the First National Climate Change Plan is an integral part-, to facilitate, monitor and evaluate their effective, transparent and participatory implementation, in accordance with national and international law, including compliance with the commitments on climate change,

The comptroller bodies of the State to effectively assume its legal mandates to monitor, audit and evaluate the performance of government institutions and officials that preside them, regarding compliance with the relevant legal mandates; and to issue the

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relevant legal opinions, including recommendations, to ensure the effectiveness of the law, including the commitments under the Convention and the decisions adopted by its Conference of the Parties, The Legislature to exercise its constitutional mandates to: (a) follow up the implementation of legislation relating to climate change, specifically the commitments and obligations under the multilateral process of the Convention, which is law of the Republic since 1994; and (b) supervise the work of the relevant public officials through special commissions of inquiry, discussions in the standing committees and plenary sessions, reception, approval or disapproval of annual reports, interpellations of ministers and issuance of recommendations,

The relevant non-governmental actors and sectors to address climate change to: (a) be aware of the increased threat of climate change to the viability of the Salvadoran society, economy and territory; (b) undertake surveillance and demand transparency and accountability on the effectiveness of the public service on the part of governmental agencies and officials; (c) raise and implement proactively from their respective fields of action, criteria and proposals related to mitigation and adaptation strategies, policies and measures, to effectively address the causes, effects and impacts of climate change; and (d) require the underpinned preparation and timely submission of the INDC by the Salvadoran State -in the context of the global agreement to be adopted in Paris late 2015, in articulation with the First National Climate Change Plan-, which should include the criteria and proposals of the relevant stakeholders and sectors,

The government entities with legal mandate related to climate change, in the exercise of their institutional responsibilities under the rule of law, to open spaces for citizen participation in governance through public, open and inclusive calls to convene social organizations, actors and relevant sectors of the Salvadoran societyix; specifically, through free, prior and informed consultations in the context of processes of identification, analysis, prioritization, validation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the INDC prior to being formalized for submission to the Convention by the Salvadoran State for the different cycles -which will eventually be established in the Agreement in Paris-. In this context, El Salvador Round-Table on Climate Change reiterates its commitment and willingness to contribute, in such spaces and processes, with criteria and proposals that enrich, underpin and complement the INDC, which should be part of the First National Climate Change Plan. Adopted in San Salvador on the 20th March 2015 i Decreto Legislativo No 534 del 2 de diciembre de 2010, publicado en el Diario Oficial No 70, Tomo 371 del 8 de abril de 2011 ii Plan Quinquenal de Desarrollo 2014-2019, Pg. 64, Cap. III: El Salvador y El Mundo, Tendencias, Cambios y Desafos. Secretara Tcnica y de Planificacin de la Presidencia de la Repblica, enero de 2015 iii En virtud de la Decisin 1/CP.19 (prrafo 2, literal b), contenida en el documento oficial FCCC/CP/2013/10/Add.1 y la Decisin 1/CP.20 (prrafo 13) contenida en el documento oficial FCCC/CP/2014/Add.1 iv Decisin 1/CP.20 (prrafo 16, literal b) v Decisin 1/CP.20 (prrafo 14) en el documento FCCC/CP/2014/Add.1 vi Decisin 1/CP.20 (prrafo 12) contenida en el documento FCCC/CP/2014/Add.1 vii Art. 32 del Cap. II, Ttulo II del Reglamento Interno del rgano Ejecutivo, emitido por Decreto Ejecutivo No 24 del 18 de abril de 1989, publicado en el Diario Oficial No 70, Tomo 303 del 18 de abril de 1989. Reformas (38) mediante Decreto Ejecutivo No 57 del 28 de septiembre de 2009, publicado en el Diario Oficial No 193, Tomo 385 del 16 de octubre de 2009 viii Decreto Ejecutivo No 12 del 11 de junio de 2014, publicado en el Diario Oficial No 109, Tomo 403 del 13 de junio de 2014 ix Poltica de Participacin Ciudadana en la Gestin Pblica, Secretara para Asuntos Estratgicos de la Secretara Tcnica de la Presidencia de la Repblica de El Salvador, septiembre de 2013