The government is in talks to establish a fund, along the lines of the Amazon Fund, aimed at preserving and restoring various biomes, such as the Cerrado and Caatinga. According to Minister of Environment and Climate Change Marina Silva, the new equipment will have wider geographical applications. The idea of a fund for biomes has been discussed since the first year of Lula 3.
“We are talking with BNDES and President Lula about how to expand this highly successful Amazon Fund formula. Rather than having a fund for each biome, we will probably consider something like a biome fund,” he explained at an event where the Swiss government made a new contribution to the defense of Brazil’s forests.
Switzerland officially announced this Sunday (9th) a donation of 5 million Swiss francs (approximately 33 million reais) to the Amazon Fund. The ceremony, called “Swiss Presence at COP30”, was held at the Emilio Goeldi Paraense Museum in Belem on the eve of the opening of the conference.
Amazon Fund is affiliated with MMA and managed by BNDES.
Marina explained that the system has become very dynamic, funding everything from research to protect the environment to supporting indigenous communities and strengthening the institutional work of public authorities. For example, from 2023 onwards, R$405 million has been approved to support fire management for fire departments in nine states in the Amazon basin. Of this amount, R$370 million was contracted.
This year, for the first time, non-refundable funds of R$150 million were released from the Amazon Fund for forest fire prevention and extinguishing efforts in the Cerrado and Pantanal states.
The minister stressed that “under President Lula’s administration, we increased the disbursement of BNDES resources from 300 million reais to 1.5 billion reais.” BNDES President Aloyzio Mercadante also said that the foundation’s support base has expanded over the past three years. Germany, Norway and the European Union also contributed.
Over 17 years, the Fund has benefited approximately 260,000 people through support for more than 600 community organizations and 144 projects.
Regarding the COP30 negotiation agenda, which begins this Monday (10th), the Minister underlined that negotiators have the task of discussing the adaptation agenda.
“The state of Paraná is in a terrible situation right now. Lives have been lost, property has been destroyed. This is climate change. Cities need to adapt. And what will be discussed from the beginning at the COP is what are the indicators that we are actually succeeding in adapting the most vulnerable regions, countries and communities, and what resources will be allocated to this adaptation,” he said.
Another issue highlighted by Marina Silva is the NDC (English acronym for Nationally Determined Contribution), which presents emissions reductions to countries that are signatories to emission reduction agreements.
“NDCs have not been negotiated, but reports produced so far and those already submitted show that they are not enough. These NDCs will not be able to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. In other words, we need to accelerate action to reduce CO2 emissions.”
The event at the Emilio Goeldi Museum was also attended by Tereza Campello, BNDES’ Social and Environmental Director, and João Paulo Capobianco, MMA Secretary General. The Swiss delegation included Hanspeter Mock, Ambassador to Brazil, and Felix Veltri, Swiss Environment Ambassador and Head of the Swiss Delegation to COP30.
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