23/10/2009 - The Department
of Extractivism of the Brazilian Ministry
of Environment (MMA) is responsible for
the Andes Amazon Room at the largest sustainable
business fair in Latin America, the ExpoSustentat.
The event will be held between October 28
and 30, at the Transamerica Expo Center
in São Paulo.
The Andes Amazon Room
is a forum to exhibit and share experiences
in sustainable business enterprise, sponsored
by the MMA in partnership with the Amazon
Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO).
It is a regional platform with the aim of
promoting sustainable development in the
Andes-Amazon region.
This year, the Andes
Amazon Room provides a wide range of products
for sustainable use of socio-biodiversity
from 42 enterprises in Bolivia, Brazil,
Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. Twenty Brazilian
enterprises will be presented with several
products, like rubber, Amazonian fruits
(açaí, cupuaçu, guaraná),
oils (copaíba, andiroba, buriti),
crafts and biojewels.
Since 2005, the MMA,
through the Department of the Secretariat
of Extractivism and Sustainable Rural Development,
has been sponsoring this space to display
and exchange experiences in sustainable
business.
Originally created only
for Brazilian enterprises, since 2007 the
fair has a partnership with the ACTO, becoming
a space that brings together businesses
and other Andean-Amazonian initiatives.
Since 2005, the ExpoSustentat
is the only Trade Fair in Latin America
that promotes sustainability in synergy
with an international event of organic products,
the BioFach Latin America. This combination
offers visitors and exhibitors a prime opportunity
to make contacts and deals with actors from
various countries gathered at the same time
and place.
ExpoSustentat and BioFach
Latin America will be held at Transamerica
Expo Center, in São Paulo (Avenida
Dr. Mario Villas Boas Rodrigues, 387 - Santo
Amaro). For further information, visit http://www.exposustentat.com.br/09-enginfo.htm.
+ More
Conama decides that
states and municipalities must inspect vehicles
22/10/2009 - Following
the example of the city of São Paulo
and the state of Rio de Janeiro, where vehicle
inspections for pollution control is a compulsory
routine, all Brazilian states and municipalities
with more than three million vehicles will
be required to have a Vehicle Inspection
Plan.
The rule will come into
force after the publication in the National
Official Gazette - what may happen soon
- and it will cover all motor vehicles,
motorcycles and similar vehicles, regardless
of the type of fuel they use. The inspection
program, however, wil be set by each municipality,
and without the periodic inspection, vehicles
will not obtain the annual license.
After the publication
of Conama's resolution, states and mucipalities
have a period of 12 months to prepare and
submit the plan to state councils of environment.
The plan, a guide for the management of
vehicular pollution control, should be based
on the inventory of emissions from mobile
sources and on the monitoring of air quality.
The vehicle inspection
in Brazilian cars aims to identify irregularities
in vehicles in use. Among them, the deficiencies
in the maintenance and modifications of
the original design which cause increased
emissions.
The expected result
is the improvement of the air quality, with
the consequent improvement of public health
and increased life expectancy of the inhabitants
of large cities. The reduction of vehicle
emissions directly reflects on the issue
of global warming and on the concentration
of ozone in the troposphere, the cause of
the greenhouse effect.
