March 18, 2022

18:03

Marcela Leiros – from Cenarium Magazine

MANAUS – In addition to leaders from 10 countries, the 12th Annual Meeting of the Governors’ Climate and Forests Task Force (GCF Task Force), which began in Manaus (AM) on Thursday, 17, was attended by governors and representatives of the states that make up the Brazilian Amazon. During the opening of the event, the governor of Amapá, Waldez Góes, reiterated which policies the state has been implementing, which aim at environmental preservation allied with sustainable development, respecting traditional populations.

“Although we have, basically, ‘a trace’ of general deforestation in the Amazon, this does not diminish our commitment. We launched the Green Economy plan, we are with a project rotating to the circular economy, to lower emissions. And we also assumed the commitment to zero illegal deforestation by 2030”, he said.

The Amapá representative also cited the Pro-Extractivism Program (PPE), a scheme of payments to small producers for the provision of forest-based environmental services, implemented by the state. The PPE was launched in September 2012 and is considered the pioneer program to implement the green economy in Amapá.

“As a rule, we have a problem and we are all mobilized in the task force. It is not only the Brazilian Amazon. You have more than 30 governors of states and provinces, from more than 10 different countries, committed to the climate task force. Obviously, achieving the goals is to mitigate carbon emissions, but it also has to be related to the opportunities for the populations that preserve the forest: the indigenous, quilombolas, extractivist populations and river dwellers. Amapá has this example”, he said.

Besides the governor of Amazonas, Wilson Lima, and Waldez Góes, the opening of the event was attended by the governor of Acre, Gladson Cameli, the vice-governor of Mato Grosso, Otaviano Pivetta, governor of Yacutã, in Mexico, Mauricio Vila Dosal, governor of San Martin, in Peru, Pedro Bogarin Vargas, among other world authorities.

“We need to be united by a purpose and with this same purpose look to the people and generate employment with sustainability. I came to reiterate my support looking to the indigenous people, to the families, to those who need jobs. But we do not take away from here our commitment: to respect the people of the forest. I am here reaffirming and continuing with our policies”, the governor of Acre pointed out.

Signing of commitments

The Manaus Action Plan was also signed at the opening of the event, which will continue until Friday, 18. This is a document that will guide the next actions of the task force, both jointly and locally. The document places as a priority on the GCF agenda, for the first time ever, the fight against poverty, which is still prevalent in tropical forest areas.

The proposal is that the member states of the task force may have, in the Manaus Action Plan, a mechanism for raising funding to develop environmental strategies focused on strengthening traditional populations and reducing social inequalities of forest peoples.

Besides the MAP, Governor Wilson Lima also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Brazilian Amazon GCF members and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The partnership aims, above all, to support programs and projects of mutual interest, with a focus on the conservation of Amazonian biodiversity, the sustainable use of natural resources, and the development of partnerships with private sector companies, according to the availability of human and financial resources.

Science, technology and innovation

The governor of Amazonas also launched the “Amazônia +10” initiative, a partnership designed in the scope of the National Council of State Research Support Foundations (Confap) and the National Council of State Secretaries for ST&I Affairs (Consecti) to promote science, technology and innovation in the Amazon region.

The fund involves all the Research Support Foundations (FAP’s) in Brazil, with an initial resource of R$100 million. The target to be reached is a funding of R$ 500 million, through partnerships with state research foundations, governments, private sector and international organizations for the development of projects for Science, Technology and Innovation (CT&I) in the Legal Amazon region.