19 December 2025 – El Salvador accounts for less than 0.04 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, yet it is highly vulnerable to climate change. Droughts, floods and hurricanes repeatedly affect people’s lives, damage crops and destroy infrastructure.
Against this backdrop, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARN), with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), held the National Environmental Forum 2025: Climate, Nature and the Future from 9 to 11 December 2025. Over three days, the forum brought together discussions on climate change, biodiversity, disaster risk management, green finance, resilience and human development, in line with the Paris Agreement and the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
The event brought together public institutions, the private sector, academia, international cooperation organizations and civil society. Minister of Environment Fernando López opened the forum and presented key developments in the national climate agenda.
“The National Environmental Forum will be a meeting place where scientific knowledge, public policy and a shared vision for the country come together to accelerate climate action in El Salvador. … We are moving beyond a narrative of risk to build a new one: a country that adapts, prepares and protects its people.”
Fernando López, Minister of Environment and Natural Resources
“UNDP supports the Ministry of Environment by providing technical assistance and promoting international cooperation to strengthen climate management and the use of scientific evidence in decision-making.”
Maribel Gutiérrez, UNDP Resident Representative
On the first day, participants heard about El Salvador’s 2025 Nationally Determined Contribution, which sets national targets for reducing emissions and adapting to climate change. The results of a study on climate-related loss and damage in the agriculture, transport and housing sectors were also presented. High-level panels examined progress and challenges in clean energy, urban development and sustainable mobility.
Participants included the German Ambassador to El Salvador, who joined the forum in person, and the Global Director of the NDC Partnership, who contributed virtually. Representatives of UN agencies, development partners, government institutions and civil society organizations also took part.
The forum was supported by UNDP’s Climate Promise through the Pledge to Impact programme, with contributions from the governments of Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Belgium, Spain and Iceland, among others. Additional support came from the Green Finance Innovation Initiative, funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, and projects funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
Disaster risk governance and early warning systems
On the second day, discussions focused on strengthening environmental governance as extreme weather events become more frequent. The National Special Commission on Early Warning Systems and Anticipatory Action was presented as a mechanism for coordinating timely action across institutions ahead of high-impact weather and water-related events.
Rafael Pleitez, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative and Chief Economist, delivered a presentation titled “Disaster Risk Reduction as Public Policy: Financing Resilience.” He discussed the evolution of the human development approach and the role of resilience in connecting climate action, disaster risk reduction and social development policies. He also stressed the need to make disaster risk management a matter of national policy, linking economic planning with social protection for the most vulnerable people.
The forum also marked the formal handover of weather stations donated to MARN by the Global Green Growth Institute. The stations will strengthen El Salvador’s climate monitoring infrastructure and support the Early Warnings for All initiative led by the World Meteorological Organization.
Biodiversity, green finance and sustainable tourism
On the third day, the Government of El Salvador presented its National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan 2025–2030. Aligned with the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, it sets priorities for conserving, restoring and sustainably managing the country’s ecosystems.
An agreement was also signed to conduct a comprehensive bioecological assessment of El Salvador’s reef ecosystem. The assessment will generate new scientific information to support the management and conservation of the country’s three main reef systems. The programme also featured initiatives related to sustainable tourism, biodiversity finance and national species conservation programmes.
With support from UNDP and its donors, El Salvador is working to strengthen institutional capacity and develop policies that connect climate action and nature conservation with economic development and people’s well-being.
