São Paulo, Sep 30 (EFE).- Regional cooperation is crucial to face global challenges such as the climate crisis and to support the development of clean technologies, especially in Latin America, a region that with its rich biodiversity and natural resources can lead the global ecological transition.
The president of Brazil’s export and investment promotion agency, ApexBrasil, Jorge Viana, emphasized this in an interview with EFE, stressing the institution’s commitment to “doing business that helps to save the planet.”
According to Viana, “a clear commitment to the sustainability agenda can generate more opportunities to attract more investments to the entire region.”
“These times of climate change, the food insecurity challenge, and the energy transition force us to realize that we live on the same planet and we need to think together about the future,” added Viana. For this, he considers Brazil a global leader in this ecological transition process.
Brazilian leadership for ecological transition
“Brazil leads the G20, which brings together the countries with the largest economies in the world, it leads BRICS, a group formed by emerging economies, and is returning to a leading role from which it had been absent during the Jair Bolsonaro government (2019-2022),” he added.
Viana remarked that China is the country that invests the most in clean energy, with 675 billion dollars of investment planned for 2024. Brazil in 2023 was sixth in this ranking of investments, with 34 billion dollars.
Moreover, according to the 2024 Energy Transition Investment Trends report, Brazil was the third country in the world that attracted the most investment in renewable energy in 2023, with more than 25 billion dollars.
“This is a very opportune moment for Brazil to stand out on the world stage, driving sustainable and inclusive economic development in the face of the urgency imposed by the climate crisis,” Viana said.
COP30 in the Amazon
Against this backdrop, Viana stressed the importance of the 2025 UN climate conference, COP30, to be held in the city of Belém, in the Brazilian Amazon.
“The living but productive forest will be the great message of COP30. ApexBrasil supports the development of the bioeconomy as an alternative for the sustainable development of the Amazon, preserving the rainforest, creating jobs, and guaranteeing the quality of life of the 30 million people living in the region,” he said.
In this sense, he stressed that Brazil is working to ensure that COP30 has the largest and best participation of indigenous and other traditional peoples of the Amazon.
“The international market for forest-compatible products – with products such as nuts, coffee, cocoa, handcrafts, and palm oil – already moves more than 150 billion reais a year (about 27.5 billion dollars). We are working to have a credit and action policy that will exponentially multiply this figure,” he added.
Encouraging debate
To promote the necessary changes, Viana stressed the need to encourage debate through the promotion of events, such as the 2nd Latin American Green Economy Forum (FLEV in Spanish), organized by Agencia EFE in partnership with ApexBrasil for the second consecutive year.
FLEV is also sponsored by Norte Energia, which operates Belo Monte, the fourth-largest hydroelectric power plant in the world, and has the support of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Brazil and Vivo.
The event will bring together on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Teatro Vivo in São Paulo authorities and experts who will discuss the challenges and solutions for Latin America to accelerate its progress towards a more sustainable and inclusive future.
For this, during the two-day event, representatives of local governments, companies, NGOs, and organizations such as UNDP, ICLEI, IDB, ABEEólica, and ABREMA, will discuss topics such as energy transition, water and waste management, sustainable development in the Amazon, the climate crisis and vulnerable populations and financing.
For Viana, “the presence of civil society is fundamental to ensure that the government’s actions reflect the needs and interests of the Brazilian population and companies.”
“ApexBrasil is committed to this path so the country wins, and in a sustainable way,” he concluded. EFE