Marina Silva: Brazil will have to hurry to make up for lost time

The Minister of the Environment and Climate Change (MMA), Marina Silva, said that Brazil needs to hurry up to make up for lost time in recent years, when environmental policy was not a priority for the federal government. In an interview with TV Brasil, she stated that the country will need to seek resources from abroad to resume actions to preserve the environment. “We will seek donations from philanthropy. When I was in Egypt [durante a COP27, conferência da ONU sobre mudanças climáticas], I met with senior representatives of global philanthropy and some will come to Brazil to negotiate funding,” he said. According to her, among the entities interested in cooperating are the Earth Alliance Foundation, chaired by actor Leonardo diCaprio, and the Bezos Earth Fund, created by Jeff Bezos, owner of the giant retailer Amazon. The country recently reopened the Amazon Fund, which relies on donations from other countries to combat deforestation in the region, as well as supporting research and sustainable production activities. Germany and Norway are the current partners of the fund, which may include the United Kingdom in the near future. Marina said that the money currently held in the fund, R$ 3 billion, will be used on an emergency basis for management, inspection and monitoring actions. She added that she will go to the World Economic Forum, in Davos, Switzerland, in order to seek more resources for environmental preservation in Brazil. “I’m going to the global economic forum, in Davos, and there I’m going to prospect more resources from private initiative and global philanthropy”. Among the MMA’s first efforts is Brazil’s transition to a low-carbon economy. This issue was mentioned by the minister herself during the government transition period, in December. She explained that the European Union adopted new rules on the subject and if Brazil does not adapt, it could harm the national export industry. “The European Union approved regulations that do not allow the entry of products resulting from deforestation, violence, illegal mining, destruction of protected areas. The effort will be to do the homework so as not to harm Brazilian agribusiness, Brazilian interests, the industry”. According to Marina, the world already sees Brazil differently after the change in government. And even though the Lula government’s environmental policies have not yet been put into practice, there is already confidence from the international community. “When we change reality and partners gain confidence, it is possible to resume activities. They are already being resumed even before we start to implement these policies, because they know that the strategy has changed”.

Agência Brasil