Less than two weeks after the conclusion of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), held in Glasgow, Scotland, Rio de Janeiro began preparations for the Rio 2030 Conference.
The event will take place 30 years after Eco-92, when the state capital received leaders from 178 countries to discuss sustainability. In 2012, the city also hosted the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20).
According to the state, preparations for Rio2030 began in January, with the creation of a working group that formulated proposals for the 30-year event of Eco-92. In August, the Sustainable Development Authority was created. On Wednesday (24), Governor Cláudio Castro (PL) signed a term that makes 2022 the year of sustainable development in the state.
State Secretary for Environment and Sustainability, Thiago Pampolha explains that the conference will take place at a time when Rio de Janeiro will be even more committed to environmental goals, due to the commitments made recently at COP26.
“We will make a big move, with Guanabara Bay as a living stage, from the beginning of the restoration of this ecosystem, part of our 2030 agenda”, he said.
“We are inaugurating a new era with the universalization of sanitation, with the reduction of gas emissions such as methane and the Atlantic Forest Connection, of which we have already committed to a 10% increase in vegetation cover in the state. All of this makes Rio2030 more robust”, explains the secretary.
The government intends to universalize basic sanitation through the concession of the State Water and Sewage Company (Cedae), which divided the basin area of the Guanabara Bay into two lots already granted. A third, which encompasses 21 municipalities, is scheduled to go up for auction on December 29, at the São Paulo Stock Exchange (B3) using modeling done by the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES).
“It will be a great event that will bring together heads of state, coalitions, international networks and civil society. It will be a great example of what we have been calling thinking globally and acting locally. Therefore, 2022 will be a year of intensification of the environmental agenda”, concludes Pampolha.
The event also foresees the holding of forums, panels and different opportunities for exchanges between different government instances and civil society.
Reference: CNN Brasil
