Global Gateway Dialogue Platform
The Wildlife Conservation Society EU office (WCS EU) is pleased to have been selected as a member of the Global Gateway Civil Society and Local Authorities Dialogue Platform. The Global Gateway will mobilise up to €300 billion of investments for sustainable and high-quality projects and is the EU’s contribution to narrowing the global investment gap worldwide. The platform is an important mechanism through which the EU will consult with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and Local Authorities (LAs) to receive feedback on its implementation and identify opportunities for partnership and collaboration.
Around 60 members (including CSOs, social partners, professional and business associations, and LAs) were invited to join the dialogue platform. The first meeting was opened by Jutta Urpilainen, European Commissioner for International Partnerships, at the margins of the Global Gateway Forum. Arnaud Goessens, Associate Director of EU Policy, WCS EU, participated and spoke on the importance of the Global Gateway strategy and activities contributing to the implementation of the EU Green Deal and existing EU commitments on biodiversity, including the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. The health of humans, our society, and our economies is closely interconnected to environmental health. Global Gateway projects can and should therefore integrate biodiversity into all relevant sectors, and invest in the conservation and restoration of ecosystems with direct benefits for the economy and local communities.
One such example is the Five Great Forests of Mesoamerica Initiative (Cinco Bosques), an EU-LAC flagship Global Gateway regional project, which will help governments adapt to and mitigate climate change while also improving local livelihoods. See more information about the EU-Latin America and Caribbean Investment Agenda.
First Global Gateway Civil Society and Local Authorities Dialogue Platform meeting held on 24 October 2023 in Brussels