The panel “From Dubai to Belém, in the heart of the Amazon: Brazil’s path towards climate neutrality” at COP28 in Dubai featured the participation of CEBDS, represented by Juliana Lopes, Director of Nature and Society. The discussion focused on COP30, which will be held in Belém, Pará, in two years, and the possible contributions that Brazil could make to the global climate agenda.
As an example of the path that the country has been following, the “Business Movement for the Amazon”, an initiative of CEBDS, was presented to those present, highlighting the lessons that the experience, which began in 2020, has already brought to the companies involved. “We found two factors that determine the success of investments by the business sector in the Amazon: the connection with public policies and the partnership with local organizations”, said Juliana Lopes.
The discussion also involved Eugênio Pantoja, Director of Public Policies and Territorial Development at the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM) and Marina Negrisoli, director at Suzano, and was mediated by Marcello Brito, Executive Secretary of the Legal Amazon Consortium.
For COP30, the expectation is that the topic of biodiversity will gain more prominence, motivated both by the headquarters in Brazil, the country with the greatest biodiversity in the world, and by the actions that have already been taken by Brazilian agents.
The panelists emphasized the impossibility of disconnecting environmental issues from the way people live. “There is no way we can keep our forests standing if the population is hungry,” stressed Marina Negrisoli, from Suzano, commenting on the company’s goal of lifting 200,000 residents out of poverty in the areas where it operates.
Eugênio Pantoja, from IPAM, highlighted that an alternative to the country's challenges is the transition to the bioeconomy, which requires contributions of US$20 to 30 billion per year, for ten years, according to the Institute's calculations.
Brazil’s potential to lead by example is a major expectation for the coming years. “Being the first nation in the world to achieve climate neutrality should be one of Brazil’s ambitions for COP30 and beyond,” said Juliana Lopes, Director of Nature and Society at CEBDS.
