The Ministry of the Environment (MiAmbiente) of Panama said that they are currently working on a national policy, law and strategy on Climate Change, to keep the country as carbon negative.

MiAmbiente indicated that although Panama achieved the negative carbon classification in March of this year, it also represents a difficult challenge.

Yoisy Belén, climate change analyst at MiAmbiente, warned that maintaining a negative carbon status is not that simple, so it is necessary to continue working on emission reduction strategies.

Carbon negative means that an activity, project or country removes more carbon dioxide than it emits. Released emissions are sequestered by trees, stubble, seagrasses and mangroves.

At the end of 2019, a team of Panamanians carried out the National Inventory of Greenhouse Gases (INGEI), showing that forest lands remove more CO2 than emitted by other sources of emission in the country (public transport, livestock, production industries , solid waste, sewage).

MiAmbiente explained that the forest cover of Panama (4,925,789 hectares of forests) and the more than 165,000.00 hectares of mangroves play an important role in this achievement.

“ All these marine and terrestrial spaces contribute to the fight against climate change. Hence the challenge of conserving them and continuing to carry out activities that allow them to expand their coverage, ”said MiAmbiente.

The entity assured that it is preparing for the United Nations Conference on Climate Change, which will take place from November 1 to 13.

The Panamanian delegation will seek to promote projects that allow them to remain carbon negative, and strengthen knowledge on climate matters.