Under the theme “Joining efforts”, representatives of the State of Paraná opened, this Monday 12, in Montreal (Canada), one of the main panels of COP15 (United Nations Conference on Biodiversity) and the 7th Summit of Subnational Governments & Cities. The state was a reference at the summit meeting of subnational governments and cities, organized by Regions4 and ICLEI.

In addition to the panel, the Paraná delegation participated in meetings with the government of Jalisco (Mexico), with the Secretary of Agriculture and the presidency of Naturatins (Tocantins) and, also, with the Fundação O Boticário. Also on the agenda was a ceremony in which Paraná received the founding certificate, along with other subnational governments, of the Regions With Nature initiative – for collaboration and dissemination of government conservation action.

The entourage of Paraná is formed by the director of environmental policies of the Secretary of State for Sustainable Development and Tourism, Rafael Andreguetto; the CEO of Invest Paraná, Eduardo Bekin; and the director of international and institutional relations of Invest Paraná, Giancarlo Rocco. The delegation remains in Canada until the 16th.

Regions4 and ICLEI have the same line of action, the former focusing on states, regions and provinces, and the latter on cities. The groups are the global voice of regional governments ahead of UN negotiations, European Union initiatives and global discussions in the areas of climate change, biodiversity and sustainable development.

SIGN – The panel aimed to show examples of successful partnerships to improve the implementation of the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (known by its acronym GBF), focusing on the whole of government and societal approach.

“We need more actions with citizens, but with more emphasis on indigenous peoples and traditional communities, because they know and practice the real bioeconomy and the famous green and blue economies”, underlined Rafael Andreguetto at the opening of the panel.

He highlighted the project Parks of Parana, which this month received the Braztoa Sustainability Award, whose line of action is the work carried out with traditional communities in protected areas. The IAT manages 70 Conservation Units, divided into 50 units in full protection and 20 units in sustainable exploitation, totaling an area of ​​1,250,235.77 hectares conserved.

“Another example concerns our main economy in the sector, agriculture and livestock. We are in second place in Brazil in soybean plantations, in first place with fish and pig farms, which allows these emissions to be transformed into biogas and biomethane into green hydrogen,” added Andreguetto.

Another example, according to him, is the program Greener Paranawhich works with environmental education among the population and has provided the free distribution of approximately 7 million native tree seedlings since 2019.

DEVELOPMENT – Among the lines of action focused on sustainable development, Invest Paraná presented the actions of the Sustainable Regional Vocations (VRS) program, an initiative that encourages the creation of a brand to promote a Paraná product in national and foreign markets .

“Our goal is to show communities how it is possible to join efforts and work with a single brand, which attracts the attention of domestic and foreign markets and adds more value to their products, whether it is be it hearts of palm, bananas or any other product typical of a certain region,” underlined Giancarlo Rocco.

The project also foresees the commercialization of typical and sustainable products in places called Ponto Paraná, strategically placed on the side of the roads, as stopping points for travellers.

From the experience of Paraná presented at COP15, according to Rocco, a possible partnership with Mexico has emerged to extend the transfer of technical information between the parties.