{"id":116378,"date":"2024-06-14T10:18:50","date_gmt":"2024-06-14T08:18:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/efecomunica.efe.com\/?p=116378"},"modified":"2024-06-14T15:44:48","modified_gmt":"2024-06-14T13:44:48","slug":"protecting-the-amazon-is-protecting-the-planet-a-sustainability-week-synopsis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/efecomunica.efe.com\/en\/protecting-the-amazon-is-protecting-the-planet-a-sustainability-week-synopsis\/","title":{"rendered":"Protecting the Amazon is protecting the planet, a Sustainability Week synopsis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Manaus, Brazil, Jun 14 (EFE).- Protecting the Amazon<\/strong> is synonymous with saving the planet<\/strong>. This message concluded the IDB Invest Sustainability Week<\/strong> held in Manaus, Brazil, an event aimed at promoting sustainable investments<\/strong> in Latin America and the Caribbean to preserve vital areas like the ‘lungs of the Earth<\/strong>.’<\/p>\n

At a crucial moment<\/strong> when experts warn of the “irreversible ecological tipping point<\/strong>” at which the Amazon<\/strong> “is losing its ability to recover” from the effects of climate change, the world needs to mobilize for its protection, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) President Ilan Goldfajn<\/strong> told a panel held Thursday.<\/p>\n

Therefore, he added, more than ever, an “integrated approach<\/strong>” from “the public sector, local communities, the private sector, multilateral development banks like the IDB” is needed to “develop and sustainably protect the Amazon<\/strong> for the millions of people here” and worldwide.<\/p>\n

In this regard, IDB Invest General Manager James Scriven<\/strong> told a press conference Thursday that the bank’s objective “is not to dictate what the Amazon needs” but to “co-create what the future<\/strong> of the region can be.”<\/p>\n

\"The
The audience listens to the president and CEO of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in the United States, Carter Roberts (2nd from the left) during a panel at the IDB Invest Sustainability Week on Thursday in Manaus (Brazil). EFE\/Antonio Lacerda.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to Jaime Garc\u00eda Alba, Director of the Advisory Services and Blended Finance Program at IDB Invest,<\/strong> this has been a “very important event for the Amazon region” and also for “sustainability<\/strong> in general.”<\/p>\n

Being in Manaus, he explained to EFE in an interview, reinforced the message that the Amazon<\/strong> “is not only relevant<\/strong> to the people who live in it but to the entire planet<\/strong>” because, among other things, “it plays a role in regulating the global climate.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Amazon, he added, “is a region with exceptional wealth<\/strong> but also vulnerability<\/strong>,” as “it has most of the planet’s biodiversity and, moreover, the majority of uncontacted tribes and an extremely high cultural richness<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

Opportunities for the local population<\/h3>\n

Therefore, the fundamental theme discussed at the Sustainability Week<\/strong> was how to generate economic opportunities<\/strong> for the 50 million people living in the region, and how “these people can connect with global markets<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

There are multiple opportunities<\/strong>, noted Garc\u00eda Alba, in areas such as infrastructure<\/strong>, with “needs for access to energy, water, and sanitation” that “must be addressed<\/strong> by the private sector.”<\/p>\n

\"The
The president and CEO of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in the United States, Carter Roberts, participates in a panel at the IDB Invest Sustainability Week on Thursday in Manaus (Brazil). EFE\/Antonio Lacerda.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It is time, therefore, to scale up investments in sustainability<\/strong>, at a time when it has already been demonstrated that “investment in sustainability is profitable<\/strong>,” even from a risk perspective.<\/p>\n

“What many investors are seeing is that if they do not consider sustainability aspects<\/strong>, investments often end up having performance problems<\/strong>, and not investing in sustainability is less profitable<\/strong>,” he concluded.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

For Silvia Vilas Boas, CFO of Natura<\/strong>, one of the largest cosmetics<\/strong> companies in Latin America, “there is no choice between sustainability<\/strong> and profitability<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

“Sustainability is within our business model<\/strong>,” said the company executive, which operates in 50 communities<\/strong> and has created 100 product supply chains in the region.<\/p>\n

However, Vilas Boas stated that this is only “the beginning<\/strong>” because the Amazon’s potential<\/strong> is “enormous,” and she said the company is considering compensating communities for the services they offer in nature protection.<\/p>\n

Overall, participants<\/strong> in the debates agreed<\/strong> on the need to listen more to local populations when designing programs<\/strong>, a demand also made by indigenous leader Almir Narayamoga Suru\u00ed, President of the Paiter Suru\u00ed Territory.<\/p>\n

“Indigenous<\/strong> peoples need to be present<\/strong> on the global agenda, not just to be consulted<\/strong>, but at the table where decisions are made,” he said to applause from the attendees. EFE<\/p><\/blockquote>\n