Governor Carlos Moisés and the secretaries Fernando Raupp (SAI) and Leonardo Ferreira (Sema) participated in the UN climate change conference, in Scotland. The State’s presence was highlighted by the presentation of the performance of Santa Catarina in relation to climate issues, the reinforcement of the commitment to good environmental practices and the firm speech of the head of the Santa Catarina Executive – in the debate with leaders from all over the world – demanding collective effort from the authorities in the recovery of environmental liabilities left by the exploration of energy matrices by world economic powers, as in SC, involving the beginning of coal activities in the south of the state.

“We fulfilled our role. Santa Catarina’s participation in COP26 was a demonstration of responsibility to the world that we want to leave to the new generations. It is urgent to act now to try to mitigate the effects of climate change. We are already working on building more sustainable models, without neglecting all the social impacts of this transition. We will remain firm with the purpose of contributing and making the state’s actions a reference for the world in terms of climate protection”, reinforces Moisés.

COP26 Agenda

One of Carlos Moisés’ first commitments in Glasgow was his participation in the “Governors for Climate” plenary. During his presentation, the governor highlighted the actions that Santa Catarina has been developing to contribute to reducing the emission of greenhouse gases. Moisés also proposed that European states contribute with solutions to reduce the environmental liability of coal activities in the south of the state, recalling that it was British companies that started exploring the material more than 100 years ago.

“The commitment to reduce greenhouse emissions also involves the recovery of degraded areas, under penalty of leaving solely to local governments the responsibility for an environmental liability that was generated by countries whose economy was based on energy matrices that were more harmful to the environment”, said the governor.

As for the actions already put into practice in Santa Catarina with a focus on protecting the environment, Carlos Moisés cited as examples: the investment of R$ 300 million by the State Government to reserve water and preserve springs and Celesc’s initiative to create a corridor for charging 100% electric vehicles parallel to the BR-101, in partnership with the neighbouring states of Rio Grande do Sul and Paraná.

ICLEI Membership

Another important moment at COP26 was the adhesion of Santa Catarina to ICLEI, one of the most important associations of local and subnational governments dedicated to sustainability actions. According to the governor, the State will have the expertise of the body in monitoring and in the transparency of actions. In addition to taking stock of the work in Santa Catarina, the partnership with ICLEI will be essential for monitoring that will indicate whether the goals for sustainable development are being met.

The arrival of Santa Catarina at ICLEI was highlighted by representatives of the agency, at COP26. “The state already stands out in its work involving local climate action planning and will help us to advance a multidimensional agenda with multiple levels of action involving governments and society,” said ICLEI Director of Global Advocacy, Yunus Arikan.

Among other commitments on the agenda, the Santa Catarina delegation also met with members of the European Bank, where specific lines of credit for investments in the actions discussed during the COP26 were presented. The preservation of springs, renewable energies, environmental recovery, sanitation, among others, stand out around sustainability.

Positive evaluation

Members of the Santa Catarina delegation at COP26, the Executive Secretaries for the Environment, Leonardo Porto Ferreira; of International Affairs, Fernando Raupp; and state deputy Fabiano da Luz believe that it was important for Santa Catarina to be at the center of the debate on climate change and to reinforce its commitment to mitigation actions and for sustainable development.

“We show the world that we are already committed to the main actions to protect climate and reinforce our contribution to the reduction of greenhouse gases. There is still a lot to be done and the work will not stop”, emphasizes Porto Ferreira.

For the secretary of International Affairs, these were important days of work to present the potential of Santa Catarina, outline goals to be achieved in the coming years and share good experiences that will be able to adapt to the demands of the state’s reality. “An extremely important opportunity for the process of fair transition that we are building in the state”, adds Fernando Raupp.

In the same sense, the state deputy, Fabiano da Luz, considers that Santa Catarina cannot be left out of a debate that is global. “With its presence at COP26, Santa Catarina demonstrated that it is also responsible for sustainability”, assesses the deputy.

COP26

This year, the 26th United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP26) focuses on the debate, involving authorities, world leaders and climate issues, the acceleration of actions to contain global warming and measures to boost the transition to neutral development in carbon.

Text: Secom
Pictures: Peterson Paul/Secom