1. Context

Expertise France is the French international cooperation agency. It designs and implements projects which aim to contribute to the balanced development of partner countries, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda and the priorities of France’s external action. The agency coordinates and implements national- or regional-scale projects in major areas of public action:

• Democratic, economic and financial governance
• Peace, stability and security
• Climate, agriculture and sustainable development
• Health and human development

In these fields, Expertise France carries out engineering and implementation missions for capacity building projects, mobilizes technical expertise and has a specific capacity to assemble projects involving public expertise and private skills.

With a volume of activity of 324 million euros, more than 500 projects in a hundred countries, Expertise France puts its action within the framework of solidarity, influence and economic diplomacy policies of France.

In Latin America, Expertise France is mainly involved in regional projects or programs. In October 2018, Expertise France's first office in Latin America was opened in Bogotá, Colombia. Its main objective is the implementation of the climate and biodiversity programmes, EUROCLIMA and Amazonia+ in particular.

2. Programmes description

EUROCLIMA Programme

EUROCLIMA is an EU-funded programme to assist Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries in their efforts to adapt to and mitigate climate change.

This Programme intends to strengthen climate dialogue with partner countries, giving a stronger focus on biodiversity in alignment with the EU LAC strategy: “Larger than jaguars. Inputs for a strategic approach to biodiversity conservation in Latin America and the Caribbean” and extend the geographical scope to the Caribbean countries.

The Overall Objective of this action is to contribute to the LAC region’s Green Transition, through climate mitigation and adaptation efforts and through the protection and conservation of biological diversity.  

The Specific Objective is to strengthen the policies of the Latin American and Caribbean region and their implementation, supporting LAC institutions to improve their transformative approaches towards decarbonization, climate resilience and the protection of biodiversity.  

Two main Outputs (results) are foreseen, contributing to the specific objective:  

• strengthened enabling environment for a green transition (integrated policies, legal frameworks, sectoral plans and financial instruments) are supported in line with climate and biodiversity goals, as well as strengthened institutions and human capacity to manage and coordinate these;  
• transformative approaches in key areas for the green transition are developed, demonstrated and scaled up through the mobilization and leveraging of public and private finance.  

This Programme is building on the experience of previous phases of EUROCLIMA, originally launched in 2010 and intensified during 2017-2022 as EUROCLIMA+, supporting 18 participating Latin American countries in the implementation of their NDCs under the Paris Agreement.

Currently, Expertise France is managing three different contracts under this Programme which started in 2017, 2020 and 2023, and is specifically responsible for:

• Co-coordinating Action Line 1 “Strengthening of Climate-related policies, plans and institutions”, Action Line 2 “Access to Finance and Investment (enabling frameworks, institutional capacities and instruments for climate change finance and investment)” and Action Line 4 “Coordination among sectors, between government levels and multiple stakeholders”.
• Leading the Forestry, Biodiversity, Ecosystems sector; co-leading the sectors Disasters Risk Reduction and Resilient Food Production; and acting as support agency for the sectors Urban Mobility/Transport, Water Management and Energy Efficiency.

Programme interventions at national and regional levels are identified and agreed upon using the Country Dialogue methodology, based on countries consultations, which ensures policy and programming alignment, flexibility and a demand-driven approach and commonly defined priorities. Actions are identified and prioritised in a transparent way through a coordination mechanism facilitated by the PSU and country dialogue facilitating agencies, involving all EU and UN agencies and LAC country Focal Points and EU Delegations. Expertise France is then in charge of designing and implementing part of the identified actions.

The EUROCLIMA team is composed by:

• At the headquarters in Paris:
  • Three project managers within the Sustainable Development department, responsible for the overall contractual and financial monitoring of the actions implemented by EF within the framework of the EUROCLIMA Program, and for the institutional relationship with INTPA and other implementing agencies.
• In Bogota, Colombia:
  • A Programme Director and a Deputy Programme Director in charge of strategic and operational implementation
  • A Regional Facilitator for Andes and Central America in charge of monitoring subsidized activities/projects implemented in Brazil within the framework of the programme.
  • A team of 4 to 6 project managers in charge of planning and monitoring the implementation of project activities.
  • A cross-functional support unit for various cooperation projects will support the project's operational team on the logistical, financial, administrative, contracting (markets, grants) and communication and visibility aspects, under the supervision of the Deputy Director programs, also based in Bogota.
• In Brazil:
  • A Regional Facilitator in charge of planning and monitoring activities/projects implemented in Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Chile within the framework of the programme.
• In Belgium:
  • A Project manager in charge of AFD Group coordination within the Programme Support Unit, ensuring representation to INTPA and other implementing agencies.
• In Latin America:
  • Experts on the topics of forests, biodiversity, climate change, gender, who support project managers in the definition, planning and implementation of actions.

Amazonia+ Programme

The Amazonia+ Programme, funded by the European Union, has been set in response to the environmental crisis experienced by the Amazon. It is part of the Team Europe Initiative (TEI) for the Amazon, which aims to mobilize and coordinate the efforts of the EU and its Member States in the Amazon basin around the sustainable management of natural resources, the development inclusive and sustainable livelihoods, including the promotion of transparent and deforestation-free supply chains, environmental governance and human rights and sustainable finance.

Within this framework, the Amazon Basin Green Transition programme aims to improve the capacity of the eight countries of the Amazon Basin (Colombia, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Surinam, Venezuela) to mitigate CO₂ emissions and adapt to the effects of climate change, to significantly reduce deforestation and to improve the protection of its biodiversity. More specifically, the program aims for four results:

1. Strengthen the capacity of countries in the Amazon basin to prevent, monitor, control, combat and remediate deforestation, forest degradation, forest fires and their causes.
2. Improve opportunities for participation of indigenous peoples and local communities in the development and implementation of environmental and forest governance policies and mechanisms.

The programme is jointly implemented by the Italian Agency (AICS), the Spanish Agency (FIIAPP) and Expertise France, under the general coordination of the AICS which will also provide the program secretariat.

Expertise France is in charge of component 2 which aims specifically to:

• Capitalize and promote successful experiences of intersectoral, multi-actor, multi-level articulation for the orientation of policies and strategies of inclusive forest governance of the Amazon forest.
• Strengthen capacities of indigenous peoples for their effective integration into local, national and regional forest governance processes.
• Contribute to the strengthening of the environmental rights of the indigenous peoples of the Amazon basin.

To do so, Expertise France will implement, for a budget of €6.4 million, diagnostic activities / studies and specific expertise, technical assistance (development and capacity building, training), exchanges of experience and knowledge (seminars, workshops, study visits), and will ensure the selection, monitoring and management of a portfolio of granted projects.

The Amazonia+ team is composed by:

• At the headquarters in Paris:
  • Two project managers and a project assistant within the Sustainable Development and Governance, Justice and Human Rights departments, responsible for the overall contractual and financial monitoring of the actions implemented by EF within the framework of the Amazonia+ Program, and for the institutional relationship with INTPA and other implementing agencies.
• In Bogota, Colombia:
  • A Coordinator in charge of operational management for Component 2.
  • A team of 1 to 2 project managers in charge of planning and monitoring the implementation of project activities.
  • A cross-functional support unit for various cooperation projects will support the project's operational team on the logistical, financial, administrative, contracting (markets, grants) and communication and visibility aspects, under the supervision of the Deputy Director programs, also based in Bogota.
• In Brazil:
  • A South regional coordinator in charge of facilitating contacts with counterparts and monitoring activities/projects implemented in Brazil in particular within the framework of the programme.
• In Latin America:
  • Experts on the topics of forests, biodiversity, and climate change, gender and the rights of indigenous peoples, who support project managers in the definition, planning and implementation of actions.