“Brazil needs to play a regional and global role in the issue of combating climate change, in addition to political and ideological issues”. It was with this clamor that the mayor of Salvador, ACM Neto, officially opened the Climate Week for Latin America and the Caribbean, held from August 19th to 23rd in the capital of Bahia.
The mayor also highlighted that what is at stake is the fate of the planet and the survival of the human species. “In the last five years we have had temperature records. Climate change is a phenomenon that devastates economies, cities and people. All efforts must be made so that, by 2100, we do not exceed the 1.5° limit proposed by the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changes.) Neto stressed that it is necessary to fight, simultaneously, the degradation of society and the environment.
The Minister of the Environment, Ricardo Salles, adopted a thoughtful speech and stated that the federal government is aligning its policy to combat climate change to take advantage of development opportunities. “This meeting consolidates the concern with the theme. In addition to the risks, climate change also brings opportunities for economic development that must be seized”, he highlighted.
The senior director of the UNFCCC, Martin Frick, stressed that the foundations of the Paris Agreement are national commitments. “What we have today is no longer enough. I've been working with the theme for years and what we predicted 10 years ago for the 20150 scenario is happening now. We need extreme changes to achieve the goals.”
Frick also spoke about the “fatherhood” of the COP on Climate and Biodiversity. “These conventions were born in this country, from Rio 92. We are children of Brazil and we are proud of it”, he celebrated, while announcing that, of the five thousand registered for the conference, there was gender equality in the participants. “We are 2,500 men and 2,500 women participating in this event.
ACM Neto ended his speech by highlighting that the struggle is both global and local. “We have to think global and act local, but we also need to think local and act global. We cannot let the Paris Agreement be just another piece of paper signed by countries”.
CEBDS at Climate Week
The Brazilian Business Council for Sustainable Development (CEBDS) participates in the Latin American and Caribbean Climate Week with a series of events highlighting the role of the business sector in mitigation and adaptation initiatives to climate change.
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