16/12/2010
The Brazilian minister of the Environment,
Izabella Teixeira, said on Wednesday (December
15) that Brazil has demonstrated the three
necessary qualities
to contribute to the success of international
conferences: the ability to discuss, efficient
diplomacy and technical knowledge. The statement
was made at an event sponsored by the University
of Brasília to discuss progress and
challenges of biodiversity and climate change
agreements, discussed this year in Nagoya,
Japan, and in Cancun, Mexico.
Regarding the 10th Conference
of the Parties to the Convention on Biological
Diversity, held in mid-October in Japan,
the minister explained that the Protocol
of Nagoya on access and benefit sharing
was negotiated until the last minute.
In Nagoya, goals for
2020 were also set, and the challenge for
Brazil will be the conservation of biodiversity
in coastal and marine ecosystems. The minister
recalled that, although neither country
has complied with the conservation goals
set for 2010, "Brazil is the champion
in achieving the goals and created 75% of
protected areas worldwide in the last eight
years."
According to the minister,
the 16th Conference of the Parties to the
Convention on Climate Change, in Mexico,
surprised all the participating countries
due to the effort of Brazil to ensure that
the Kyoto Protocol negotiations continue,
despite deep rifts on its second commitment
phase.
To the minister, "the
Kyoto Protocol is essential" and "Brazil
is committed to do its part to ensure a
low carbon economy in the future".
Izabella also stressed
that during the COP-16, Brazil announced
a reduction in greenhouse gases emissions
by 2020 through a decree signed by President
Lula. "We were the first country in
the world to make the announcement of these
goals."
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SNUC places Brazil as
a reference in protecting biodiversity
15/12/2010
At the last UN Conference on Biodiversity
(COP-10), held in October in Nagoya (Japan),
Brazil was recognized as the nation which
created more protected areas (known in Brazil
as conservation units) around the globe
over the past eight years.
In the same period,
the extension of these areas in the country
has expanded, jumping from 38 million to
77 million hectares. Today, Brazil has 310
federal Protected Areas (PAs), including
all national biomes.
Brazil currently has
the equivalent of 8.5% of its territory
in protected areas. The creation of PAs
is the main tool for conservation and biodiversity
protection in the country.
In the celebration of
the 10th anniversary of the National System
of Conservation Units (SNUC), held on Tuesday
(November 14) in Brasilia, Environment Minister
Izabella Teixeira said that the big challenge
now is to advance in the creation of new
protected areas in coastal and marine areas
of Brazil.
According to the minister,
the success of SNUC placed Brazil as a reference
in actions to protect biodiversity across
the planet. "However, we still need
to do much for conservation of biological
diversity for us to achieve the goals established
in Nagoya", the minister said.
