Since the Eco-92 world climate conference in Rio de Janeiro, the private sector has presented results and made the concept of eco-efficiency evolve, said the president of the Brazilian Business Council for Sustainable Development (CEBDS), Marina Grossi.
When participating in the meeting of the Superior Council for the Environment (Cosema) of the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (Fiesp), Marina also said that, with the holding of Rio+20, two decades after the first international conference on climate in Rio de Janeiro, the businessman became more “comfortable” to carry out sustainability actions without necessarily being guided by the government.
“There is a characteristic that the business sector is no longer just under the government’s or society’s umbrella, but it is much more at ease because it has presented results from Eco-92 to Rio+20,” said Marina. “It [the businessperson] has the autonomy to not be held hostage by just one government agenda,” she added.
She acknowledges, however, that there is still much to be done in terms of production with sustainable responsibility, but the private sector “was an agent that made things move and the eco-efficiency flag was the first of them”.
The president of CEBDS presented the organization's areas of activity to the members of Cosema. According to her, the council's focus is to work with large companies. “We are great interlocutors and we promote several consultancies with our studies,” she stated.
CEBDS works with seven axes: water, biodiversity and biotechnology, energy and climate change, communication and education, sustainable finance, sustainable mobility and materials. Marina added that the agency is preparing a sustainable procurement manual for the private sector.
Cosema
In a meeting led by Walter Lazzarini Filho, president of Cosema, the board members discussed the 2014 edition of the Fiesp Environmental Merit Award, which since 1995 recognizes industries with the greatest prominence in implementing environmental projects.
Projects to compete for the prize must be registered online by March 22.
