“Climate Week was an excellent opportunity for us to strengthen the climate action of young people in Latin America and the Caribbean. Furthermore, it was interesting to learn about the commitments of the Federal Government, which are almost zero, and the importance of the states and the municipalities in the realization of public policies on the climate in Brazil.” – Iago Hairon, member of the facilitation committee of Engajamundo
“The panel complied with the objective of extending the debate about climate and environmental challenges in the cities and giving more visibility to female work in municipal politics. The dialogue between the practical reality of six female mayors from four different regions of the country and the technical knowledge of the invited experts to the panel produced a rich content to start the discussion.
There is an urgent need to strengthen the public debate about this agenda in order to inspire other leaders to commit to this program, and to find ways to expand the participation of women in the debate about protection and climate justice, where the hegemonic spaces are still largely dominated by men.
Personally, being present at the debate and mobilization produced reflections about the existing opportunities to qualify the approach about climate and gender. We hope that with our work we can increasingly further this discussion and that we can achieve this through partnerships with organizations that are specialized in the subject of protection and climate justice on the sub-national level” – Marina Barros, executive director of the Alziras Institute
“For me, Climate Week was a reminder of how climate risks were once medium and long term problems, and how they have become much more important and immediate. In other words, they have overtaken the international discussions and the scope of the federal government, and have become part of the agenda of companies and city halls, with the support of civil society and financial backing. This contrasts with the uncertainties that still hover over the carbon credit market, the achievement of the NDCs, and their limitation of the increase of the temperature – themes that we also saw in Climate Week.
As a result of this scenario, I hope that more cities follow good examples – such as Salvador and foreign cities – for structured initiatives of climate resilience. And that companies in the key sectors for this transition become involved and take advantage of their position. For this, it will be necessary to consider the climate issue in the strategy to access different types of capital: multilateral financial institutions, international cooperation agencies, regional development banks, the private sector, and the capital markets,” – Guilherme Teixeira, senior consultant of sustainable finance from Sitawi Finance for Good
“It was extremely gratifying to see the enthusiasm of the discussions at Climate Week, which, without doubt, was a historic landmark. Previous editions never had such an expressive and qualified audience, with strong representations from many countries and especially Brazil – which shows how this subject has been growing in importance in the country. Particularly for CEBDS, it was an extremely beneficial event, because we can progress towards a greater consensus on the discussions about carbon trading mechanisms, and a positioning to be taken on the subject for COP25.” – Marina Grossi, president of CEBDS
“The participation of 350.org Latin America during Climate Week in Salvador was quite intense and positive. During the week of activities, we got to know and meet again journalists from the Brazilian media, including from Valor, Folha de S. Paulo, ClimaInfo, Colabora, TV Globo, and SBT; and from the international media, such as Reuters, AFP, and AP; all of whom are important in covering the environmental agenda. Furthermore, we obtained good results from the press at the actual event, with an interview over three minutes with our regional director, Rubens Born, for the Jornal da Manhã [Morning News], for the affiliate of TV Globo in Bahia, about the need of energy transition in Brazil. We also had the opportunity to meet with other entities that work on issues related to the environment and climate, and friends from the socio-environmental movement. KEEP READING HERE!” – Suelita Röcker, campaign manager of 350.org Brazil and Ilan Zugman, campaign organizer of 350.org Latin America
“Climate Week in Salvador was a period of significant exchange of knowledge and experience of the various entities that operate in this region of the planet. Despite not being able to stay the whole week, I had the great satisfaction of participating in the Multilevel Dialogue about the Brazilian MRV system, organized by ICLEI South America, where I could ascertain the high level of discussions about the possible strategies of sub-national governments and other institutions in the implementation efforts of the national climate agenda. I was also very pleased to attend the International Meeting on Climate and Employment, where iCS promoted an extremely opportune debate about the challenges and opportunities of work in the context of climate change, clarifying the issues that so worry those who have yet to decide their professional paths. Another event that deserves highlighting, among so many, was the discussion promoted by the CEBDS about the regulation of Article 6, of the Paris Agreement, where the debates provided evidence of the different perspectives and positions of the parties, especially of Brazil.” – Carolina Dubeux, COPPE-UFRJ
“The initiative “Faith in the Climate” was present at the Latin America and Caribbean Climate Week, represented by Mother Flavia Pinto, a religious leader from the Casa do Perdão and one of the founders of Faith in the Climate and by me, Moema Salgado, the coordinator of the initiative. We had the opportunity to attend different debates, panels, and lectures on the climate crisis and the efforts of mitigation. Many of the debates presented innovative experiences, in most cases occurring at the local level (municipal and state) – which reinforced, for us, the confirmation that the sub-national level is and will be the most appropriate area for strategies of resilience and action to combat global warming. KEEP READING HERE!” – Moema Salgado, coordinator of the initiative Faith in the Climate (ISER)
“The Brazilian Coalition on Climate, Forests and Agriculture participated in two events at the Climate Week in Salvador, both in the thematic block “Nature-based Solutions”: on August 20, André Guimarães represented the movement at the event “How Business and Government Can Advance Policies that Fast Track Zero-Carbon Economic Growth,” which was organized by Global Compact; and on August 21, Pedro Soares spoke about REDD+ in the session “Positive incentives and challenges for action: REDD+ results-based payments through public and private sources at national and jurisdictional levels,” which was organized by UNDP, with support from UNEP, FAO, IETA, WWF, TNC, and CONEXSUS. In addition, we supported a series of events of our members, such as Abag, Agroicone, Cebds, CDP, Idesam, Imaflora, Arapyaú Institute, MapBiomas, Natura, WRI, and WWF, among others.
Representatives from the Ministry of Environment participated in the week’s programming and were criticized by the participants. A set of data about compliance with the Brazilian NDC was submitted and questioned by the audience. On the other hand, there was a significant participation of state governments in the discussions, with the statement of commitment to the climate agenda, as well as a large mobilization of several actors for the discussion of Article 6, of the Paris Agreement, especially from the leadership of CEBDS. Overall, there was a high participation by companies from Brazil and Latin America, which indicates a commitment by the sector with the agenda and the possibility of the continuity of business actions at COP 25, in Chile. The development of many initiatives in Brazil and Latin America provides evidence of important technical advances in the fight against climate change, while there is still a significant challenge for the engagement of actors and communication about these issues. Finally, the venue for the event was a point highlighted by many participants, and the layout of the food court was mentioned in the closing plenary as somewhere that had provided chances to meet and converse with different people” – Luana Maia, director of the Brazilian Coalition on Climate, Forests and Agriculture .