The Amazon and New Economies International Conference Begins
Commitment to sustainability marked the opening of the event that mobilized a large audience in Belém
After months of anticipation, The Amazon and New Economies International Conference started today (30) in Belém (PA). The opening ceremony took place in the main auditorium of the Hangar Convention & Trade Fair Center and brought together government leaders, traditional peoples and communities, international organizations, ambassadors, academia, military authorities and the Brazilian Mining Institute (IBRAM).
When opening the event, IBRAM’s CEO, Raul Jungmann, highlighted the mineral sector’s commitment to overcoming the biggest challenge faced by current and future generations: the climate crisis. “Overcoming the climate crisis is something that concerns us and calls for everyone’s responsibility. The Amazon is something that belongs to us, but it is also something that matters to the whole world. It is at this intersection of the national and the global that the importance of the Amazon for all of us emerges. And it translates into keeping the forest alive, respecting traditional people, but it also has to do with increasingly sustainable cities”, he concluded.
María Alexandra Moreira López, general secretary of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO), recalled that 22 days ago the Amazon Summit took place in the same location [Hangar Convention Center], an event that brought together leaders from the eight countries that are home to the Amazon forest. When highlighting that 50 million people live in the region, the ACTO representative highlighted that “there is not just one Amazon, but several of them, therefore, different solutions”.
Afterwards, the governor of Pará, Helder Barbalho, highlighted the opportunity brought by the event to demonstrate that it is possible to effectively build a broad mobilization in favor of the economic transition of the Amazon. “Our state presents a mosaic of challenges, a mosaic of opportunities. We must value our population, around 9 million Brazilians”, he highlighted. He also drew attention to the importance of valuing biodiversity as the greatest asset of the environment in Pará. “It is essential that we see the living forest as a new commodity so that we can make the living forest even more valuable, resulting in development for Amazonians and people from Pará”.
During the opening ceremony, the CEO of the ICMM, Rohitesh Dhawan, and the CEO of Vale, Eduardo Bartolomeo, also spoke. The ceremony also included the participation of children and teenagers from the Vale Música Belém Project, who sang the National and Pará anthems.
About the Conference
The Amazon and New Economies International Conference is promoted by the Brazilian Mining Institute (IBRAM), a non-profit organization that brings together more than 130 companies and institutions that work in the Mineral sector and are committed to protecting the Amazon. IBRAM and its members are committed to innovations in the sector and to disseminating the best business and environmental practices.
The event brings together representatives of the peoples of the forest, civil society, academia, the public and private sectors in the capital of Pará to address issues involving the environment, the economy and sustainable development.
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