Espírito Santo creates Capixaba Climate Change Forum

The Governor of the State of Espírito Santo, Renato Casagrande, signed, on Wednesday (11), at the Anchieta Palace, in Vitoria, created the Capixaba Climate Change Forum. The objective is to promote cooperation and dialogue among the different sectors of society, to face the problems related to climate change and its social, environmental, and economic consequences.

In his speech, Governor Renato Casagrande highlighted the State's concern with the issue. "Understanding climate change is fundamental to our survival and also commercial. Many people around the world do not consume if they don't know the origin of the product. We want the Federal Government to be interested in the issue, but we cannot wait. The project of our State has guidelines that are being implemented. We want a more a state fairer, with more opportunity and being sustainable," he said.

Casagrande also talked about the actions that have been adopted in Espírito Santo, promoting a more sustainable vision of the future. "We don't just want to explore and use natural resources. Since the discovery, we have used these resources with brazilwood, gold, and now oil. We created the Sovereign Fund so the wealth of oil and gas, which is finite, can be used in the future. So we don't become dependent on these resources as we are today," said the governor.

Were also present at the event Vice-Governor Jaqueline Moares; Secretaries of State Cristina Angel (Science and Technology) and Paulo Foletto (Agriculture). The directors of Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa e Inovação do Espírito Santo (Fapes), Denio Rebello; of Instituto Estadual de Meio Ambiente e Recursos Hídricos (Iema), Alaimar Fiuza; of Agência Estadual de Recursos Hídricos (Agerh), Fábio Anhert; of the State Gas Company (ES Gas), Heber Rezende; of the Espírito Santo State Servants Welfare Institute (IPAJM), José Elias do Nascimento Marçal; and of the Instituto Capixaba de Pesquisa Assistência Técnica e Extensão Rural (Incaper), Antônio Carlos Machado.

The event of the signing of the decree included speeches by Carlos Nobre - considered one of the most renowned meteorologists in the country and one of the best known Brazilian scientists worldwide - and former executive coordinator of the Brazilian Forum on Climate Change (FBMC), Alfredo Sirkis, executive director of the "think tank" Centro Brasil no Clima (CBC).

For Sirkis, the climate situation is dramatic. "The year 2019 will be one of the hottest years. We had 42 degrees in Paris, the coast of Mozambique had a tornado that affected three million people. These are alarming situations. Espírito Santo is the 16th in the ranking of emissions, despite its geographical size. Creating a Climate Change Forum is essential to discuss these issues that concern us so much," he warned.

The speaker Carlos Nobre spoke about the effect of climate change on human health. "We must effectively prepare ourselves. The theme was not much considered in the state budgets, and the Espírito Santo takes a step forward by admitting the urgency of the debate. The Forum is an appropriate place to transform science into public policy," he said.

Governor Renato Casagrande reinforced that the Forum will have the role of articulating the proposals of the State Government. "We have a goal of forest recomposition here in the State. We are discussing the recomposition of five thousand hectares in the Itapemirim River Basin. We are investing in electric mobility. We recently signed the climate disaster warning system," he said.

The Forum will have the participation of public authorities, civil society, universities, and public research institutions and scientific societies. The execution of the Forum and the commission will be provided by the Secretary of State for the Environment (Seama), as well as the functioning and the attributions of its members.

Composition

The Espírito Santo Climate Change Forum will be chaired by Governor Renato Casagrande, and will have representatives from the State Secretariats, agencies and autarchies, as well as representatives from the Federation of Industries of Espírito Santo (Findes), the Federation of Agriculture and Livestock of the State (Faes), the Federation of Transport Companies of the State of Espírito Santo (Fetransportes), the State Coordination of Civil Protection and Defense and the State Attorney General (PGE).

Still in its composition, the Forum will have a representative of the Legislative Assembly of the State of Espírito Santo (Ales); two members of the State Environmental Council (Consema), representing the organized civil society and the productive sector; two members of the State Water Resources Council (Cerh), representing the civil society and the users sector; a representative of Educational Institutions constituted in the State of Espírito Santo, with a well known knowledge related to the problems of climate change; one of the National Association of Municipal Environmental Agencies (Anama) and one of the Association of Municipalities of Espírito Santo (Amunes).

The decree signed this Wednesday also provides for the creation of the State Commission on Climate Change. The objective of the college is to offer support and maintain permanent integration with the Forum.

"The initiatives resulting from the Espírito Santo Climate Change Forum should contribute to the implementation of the State Climate Change Policy and preparation of the State Climate Change Plan. This will happens in coordination with the National Plan on Climate Change," said the Secretary of State for Environment, Fabrício Machado.

Source: Governo do Estado do Espírito Santo