Oct 22, 2020

 This Wednesday (21), the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) promoted the Amazon Sustainable Development panel during the third day of the Green BNDES Week, which was attended by the vice president of Brazil, General Hamilton Mourão, and the Minister of Women, Family and Human Rights, Damares Alves. The mediator of the panel was the president of BDNES, Gustavo Montezano, who defended a holistic vision for the region: “when we talk about sustainable development in the Amazon it is important that all perspectives of sustainability are present: economy, environment, regulatory issue, territorial planning and command and control.” 

“Initiatives such as the Green BNDES Week are important. Aligned with a global trend, they promote discussions over an agenda that encompasses respect for the environment, social protection and sound governance of resources,” said Mourão. Regarding the dimensions of the region, he also stressed: “it is important to raise awareness to the diversity and grandiosity that are not understood by the inhabitants of the central-south regions of the country and the rest of the world. There are several Amazons, not a single forest.”

Then, on the development of the region from a human perspective, Damares pointed out: “The most precious good we have in the Amazon is the Amazonian people. And, unfortunately, this people for years remained invisible and had basic rights violated. There are 25 million people who should be entitled to human dignity. We have 305 indigenous peoples in Brazil and most are in the Amazon, some of them, even today, completely isolated. In Brazil there are 274 indigenous languages, of which more than 150 are spoken in the Amazon. The cultural plurality of this region is amazing.”  

Mourão commented that sustainability is a dear topic to the 21st century and that any current development project must respect environmental rules and provide social return to the population. “Land regularizations of small and large properties are necessary for there to be access to financing and rural technical assistance and for them to work such properties within environmental legislation.” 

 According to the vice president, the rich biodiversity of the forest should attract investors to produce chairs of value and investments in the region itself. “The aim is that the industries that will produce with these inputs are located in the region, generating local jobs and improving the quality of life of the population,” he added.  

“The government considers that its responsibility is to be the great inducer and facilitator for promoting the association of private investors to the wide wealth of the region, resulting in environmental and social benefits. The Brazilian government should be present in the Amazon. The government has a commitment to the next generations, we must preserve life for those who will succeed us,” ended Mourão.

Damares also recalled Abrace o Marajó, a program developed by the Federal Government that is supported by BNDES and aims to improve indicators of education, health, safety and income in municipalities of the Para region. “We believe that this sustainable development program will be a pilot that serves as a model for other regions. We thank BNDES for the partnership.” 

“Entrepreneurs who have innovative ideas for land regularization, for command and control, can look for BNDES. We will help to promote new ideas,” said Montezano at the closure. “Technology can help a lot in the development of the region,” he concluded. 

Amazon and the bioeconomy - Following the day's schedule, the second panel proposed a dialogue on the potential for exploration and development of bioeconomy in the Amazon and its importance for the preservation of the forest. Led by the head of the Department of Environment and management of the Amazon Fund, Nabil Kadri, the conversation was attended by the Sustainability director of Coca-Cola, Andrea Mota, the Minister of the Environment of the Amazon, Eduardo Taveira, and the director of the Institute of Conservation and Sustainable development of the Amazon, Mariano Cenamo. 

Kadri started the panel by pointing out that production chains in the region have already gained prominence in recent years, such as açai, cocoa and Brazil nuts, but that still there is room for advances in other products, especially in an interaction with the food, beverage, cosmetics and medicine industry. “BNDES has supported the bioeconomy in a structured manner via the resources of the Amazon Fund: in the last twelve years, the bank has invested in the region more than R$ 720 million in projects that helped develop local production chains and had an impact on the lives of 190,000 people,” he highlighted. 

For Andrea, when it comes to bioeconomy investments in the Amazon, it is necessary to have long-term thinking by aggregating private, public and third sectors. “The ESG  has finally arrived in Brazil with strength and is on the table of the CFOs of companies, which increasingly take into account the environmental impacts of their activities as a whole, considering society and sustainability, and not only financial return, in their business decisions,” he added. 

According to Taveira, the bioeconomy already moves US$ 2.3 trillion a year in Europe alone and the Amazon is a carrier of enormous economic and biological potential. “We must strive to arise biotechnology as a new economic opportunity in our region,” Taveira said.

According to Cenamo, the government must make a commitment to invest in a relevant way, with an ambitious and long-term vision, in research, development and innovation, encouraging the potential of the private sector to do the same in its business reality. “Brazilian Amazon represents 60% of the national territory, and less than 8% of GDP, mostly coming from activities not related to the bioeconomy. We have many opportunities to explore.”