Brasília – The minister of Environment of Brazil, Izabella Teixeira, said on Friday (8) that Brazil is an important promoter of initiatives aimed at sustainability. During the Dialogue about Biodiversity: Building the Brazilian Strategy for 2020 meeting, she added that the country needs to build innovative strategies to contribute to biodiversity.
The event, promoted in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Relations, is aimed at engaging the Brazilian society in a process for the strengthening of implementation of the agreements of the 10th Conference of the Parties (COP-10), which took place in October 2010 in Nagoya, Japan.
The objective is to involve a broad group of private sector representatives, of the civil society and of the government to discuss how Brazil can contribute to the targets established in Nagoya to be reached.
In the company of the Minister of Environment of the United Kingdom, Caroline Spelman, Izabella pointed out the partnership between the government of Brazil and the UK – which she considered a COP-10 victory.
"We must proceed with the dialogue and with a partnership that, since the beginning, has always shown itself friendly and sustainable," he said. "We all had a common objective: [an agreement in] Nagoya. We managed. Now, the common objective is the 2020 agenda," she finished off.
On the last day of her visit to Brazil, the British minister referred to the Brazilians as "warriors for the environment". She said she was impressed with the volume of people united in the fight for the protection of biodiversity in the country and evaluated that the partnerships are the only route to a significant impact in the cause.
"We do not have the biodiversity you have. I could not have understood that without seeing it with my own eyes," she said, on commenting a visit to the Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park, in Goiás, last Wednesday (6). "Izabella often told us to encourage our leaders to reach an agreement. I fully agree with this idea. We must bring others to a greater understanding and make a greater effort."
*Translated by Mark Ament
