15/12/2009 - Secretariat
for Social Communication
of the Presidency of Brazil - This Wednesday
(December 16), at 11:30 a.m., a side event
will be held to discuss the contribution
of the "soy moratorium" for deforestation
reduction in Brazil. The event is promoted
by the Brazilian Association of Vegetable
Oil Industries (Abiove). The panel will
show how partnerships between civil society
and government can make feasible the sustainable
production of soybean.
The commitment agreed
by soy processing and export companies for
the non-commercialization of soy from deforested
areas in the Amazon lasts until July 2010.
Since July 2009, the
business sector has started to work for
the creation and implementation of a program
for the continued improvement of sustainability
indicators in rural properties. This program
seeks to improve the management of soy farming
establishments and has the support and coordination
of different links from the soybean production
chain, the civil society and research and
rural extension institutes.
According to Abiove,
the economical and technical incentive to
direct planting, for example, is in line
with the discussions on mitigation in developing
countries under discussion at COP-15. The
expansion of planted areas using these techniques
will contribute to improve the balance of
emissions from soy farming and also from
other cultures produced in rotation with
soybean.
+ More
Minc defends transfer
of resources from environmental fund for
poor countries
16/12/2009 - At a press
conference held yesterday (December 15)
at COP-15, in Copenhagen, the Brazilian
minister of the Environment, Carlos Minc,
argued that part of the resources from a
global environmental fund should be destined
to the poorest countries in the world, such
as the Africans and those located in small
islands, to finance projects which will
allow them adapt to the effects of climate
change. However, according to Minc, emerging
countries like Brazil, China and India should
receive resources for mitigation actions
for theirs emissions of gases that cause
global warming.
Minc also defended an
"eco-solidarity" among the countries,
and said that Brazil is already doing its
part. The minister highlighted that 20%
of the resources raised by the Amazon Fund
will go to conservation projects in other
Amazonian countries, besides Brazil.
In addition, the Brazilian
federal government has given support to
the poorest countries, helping them to monitor
deforestation by satellite. Minc said that
without such monitoring, these countries
can not apply for funding by REDD for the
maintenance of the standing forest.
Regarding the goals
of reducing CO2 emissions by 2020, put forward
by Brazil during the COP-15, the minister
said he was optimistic. He estimates that
the country can reach 90% less deforestation
in the Amazon, by 2020 - more than the 80%
envisaged in the plan's goals. In 2009,
Brazil registered the lowest deforestation
rate of the past 21 years: 7,000 km²,
the expected number to be reached only in
2014.
"I think Brazil
can go beyond the proposed target",
he said. Due to this good performance, the
minister said he expected new donations
to the Amazon Fund, which will strengthen
actions to combat deforestation in the region.
And to reinforce his
optimism regarding the government's actions
to meet goals for reducing emissions of
greenhouse gases, Minc recalled that the
National Fund for Climate Change, recently
sanctioned by President Lula, will set aside
about R$ 1 billion per year, originating
from the profit of oil activity, for actions
to combat global warming.
