SUSTAINABILITY

Food security. The XXVIII Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government was held in the Dominican Republic on March 24 and 25. During the event, those present approved the Declaration of Santo Domingo, the Program of Action of the XXVIII Ibero-American Summit and the III Quadrennial Action Plan for Ibero-American Cooperation (PACCI in Spanish) for the period 2023-2026, as well as other special announcements, such as those related to food and environmental security. In these announcements, the region’s executive branches have made commitments on food, environmental and labor issues and are expected to use them to promote national public policies in line with the agreements reached.

In environmental matters, the participating countries adopted the Environmental Charter, also known as the ‘Green Pact’, which “seeks to be a benchmark in Ibero-America to consolidate the foundations of sustainable development”. In the area of climate change, the countries took on the challenge of decarbonizing their economies and making progress in institutional arrangements to limit greenhouse gas emissions. To achieve this goal, the countries committed to promote measures to prevent and reduce plastic pollution, based on the implementation of circular economy approaches and the adoption of national plans that include measures to promote sustainable production and consumption.

In terms of food security, the countries established a ‘Critical Path to Achieve Inclusive and Sustainable Food Security in Ibero-America’, which proposes actions to improve nutrition, achieve food sustainability and promote the adoption of more inclusive and resilient agrifood systems. The aim is to overcome the impacts of endogenous problems, such as the growing social and economic inequity in each country, and exogenous factors, such as the impact of international crises related to armed conflicts and pandemics.

Finally, it is worth mentioning that the parties also adopted the ‘Ibero-American Charter of Principles and Rights in Digital Environments’. There, countries are committed to promoting new forms of work, such as teleworking, while supporting decent work and access to adequate social protection.

Next steps

The countries participating in the Ibero-American Summit (Latin America, Spain and Portugal), based on the agreements, will work on promoting public policies related to the various commitments made, including the decarbonization of the economy and the reduction of pollution caused by the use of plastics. In this regard, Ecuador, as the new president pro tempore of the space, will be in charge of holding periodic meetings where the region’s Executives will present the progress in the implementation of the aforementioned actions. From these meetings, to be held throughout 2023 and 2024, the countries will evaluate whether the documents had their correlation at national and regional level. 

Engagement opportunity for McDonald’s

During the follow-up meetings on the implementation of the ratified commitments, Ecuador, as President Pro Tempore of the organization, may convene different sectors -such as private, academic, civil-, in addition to officials of each member country, to provide their input and proposals for improvement. Also, in the regional framework, McDonald’s can position itself as a support to governments to achieve the proposed goals.  In addition, when Latin American countries begin to develop proposals at the Executive and Legislative level, they may submit the regulatory proposals to public consultation, hearings and discussion spaces, in which companies may participate if the aforementioned Branches allow it.