As the Brazilian climate agenda gains more and more international relevance, deforestation and the emission of greenhouse gases grow in the country, according to data from SEEG Municípios. Therefore, despite the expansion of financing mechanisms for mitigation and adaptation projects, and despite its strategic importance, climate financing for subnational governments is still little explored in Brazil.
In this context, the Forum CB27 promoted on July 16th its XXI National Meeting, with the main objective of promoting the debate about financing for local climate action. Held in a hybrid format, the event was broadcast live from Rio Branco, capital of Acre and geographic center of the Amazon Forest, bringing together in person the National Coordinator of CB27, the Secretary of Environment of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Cavaliere, the Secretary of Environment of Rio Branco, Normando Sales, part of the ICLEI team and managers and employees from the city hall of Rio Branco. Representatives of the secretariats of Aracaju, Belo Horizonte, Boa Vista, Curitiba, Florianópolis, Fortaleza, Goiânia, João Pessoa, Manaus, Palmas, São Luís, São Paulo, the KAS Brasil team and the rest of the ICLEI team participated online.
For Anja Czymmeck, director of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Brazil, stated: “It's been more than 10 years of work in partnership with ICLEI and CB27, where we built an important space for the strengthening of municipal management.” The Secretary of Environment of Rio Branco, Normando Sales, spoke about the multipolarity and connection that CB27 provides by creating spaces such as the national meeting. “Today's issue is urgent for us, public managers, to create actions and solutions for the problems caused by the climate emergency, providing the Brazilian population with an environment healthier and living in full harmony with nature”, he concluded.
During the meeting, Camila Chabar, coordinator of Low Carbon at ICLEI South America; Raphael Duarte Stein, manager of the Department of Environment and Management of the Amazon Fund at BNDES; and André Gotler, Public Sector and Infrastructure manager at BRDE, spoke about structuring climate finance and access to resources for local governments. In addition, Luiz Roberto, Climate Change Manager at the Recife Environment and Sustainability Secretariat, presented good practices and successful experiences in the city on the climate finance agenda.
The CB27 activities report from 2019-2020 can be downloaded here.