Nine new Brazilian cities joined the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy on March 29. During the General Assembly of the Brazilian Association of Municipalities (ABM), one of the National Coordinators of the project in Brazil, eight mayors signed the commitment letter to join the GCoM. The event was held at the ABM headquarters in Brasília and was attended by the Minister of State Chief of the Institutional Relations Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic, Alexandre Padilha.
We welcome Carmo do Cajuru/MG, Quissamã/RJ, Carinhanha/BA, Anchieta/SC, Jandaíra/RN, Sirinhaém/PE, Ibirajuba/PE, and Formoso do Araguaia/TO, which are now part of the largest global alliance of local governments voluntarily committed to fighting climate change.
During the assembly, the coordinator of the GCoM in the Americas, Hélinah Cardoso, highlighted the sense of urgency for cities to engage in the climate agenda. “It may not seem obvious that issues like combating hunger and climate change are related. However, the IPCC report – the most serious on the subject – shows us that these two issues are indeed interconnected. Therefore, we cannot think of climate change as just another topic to be addressed by the municipality, but integrate this urgent demand of our planet and our population into the daily public policies,” she said.
Mayor Edson Vilela, from Carmo de Cajuru/MG, one of the new signatories of the GCoM, detailed the municipality’s climate actions, such as the installation of photovoltaic solar panels sufficient to meet the energy needs of municipal buildings, reducing consumption by more than 70%. “Our city was awarded by the UN for having renovated the public lighting park and replaced all sodium vapor lamps with LED lights,” celebrated Edson Vilela.
Addressing the environmental issue from a gender perspective, Mayor Marina Marinho, from Jandaíra/RN, reinforced the importance of female participation in the climate agenda. “Women are the most affected by these changes and the energy transition. And my state, Rio Grande do Norte, is the largest producer of renewable energy in Brazil,” said the mayor, who also assumed the role of vice-president of the ABM for gender policies.
Joining the GCoM with a Focus on Waste Reduction
The ninth Brazilian city to become a signatory on March 29 was Itacaré, in Bahia (Brazil). In a meeting with the coordinator of the GCoM in the Americas, Hélinah Cardoso, and the Program Officer for the Americas of the Delegation of the European Union in Brazil, Stephanie Horel, Mayor Antônio de Anízio signed the commitment letter and highlighted the municipality’s environmental actions.
Last year, the coastal city deactivated the landfill and inaugurated the Transfer Station and Sorting and Econegocios Center. “We want to make our city greener and reduce waste production. Today, Itacaré also suffers from heavy rains. We are looking for alternatives for draining this water through a drainage channel,” he explained.
Stephanie Horel thanked the municipality’s enthusiasm for joining the GCoM and highlighted similar actions already carried out by the European Union in coastal municipalities. “The Circular Beach project, carried out on the Copacabana beachfront in Rio de Janeiro, is a great lesson on the importance of reducing plastic consumption and proper disposal,” she highlighted.