State Forum on Climate Change moves forward low carbon development in Rondonia
This month, the state Government of Rondônia, one of the most deforested places in the Amazon, reached a significant milestone in its agenda to combat deforestation and tackle climate change.
Chaired by BVRio’s Beto Mesquita, the milestone decisions were reached at the state’s Forum, the primary vehicle for climate governance for State Policy on Climate Governance and Environmental Services. The Forum was attended by representatives of civil society organisations, federal and state government bodies, municipal entities, indigenous peoples, extractivist communities, agriculture, industry and trade federations, along with BVRio legal manager Daniela Pires e Albuquerque, PlanaFlor project manager Marcelo Hercowitz.
The main outcomes of the Forum were the creation of a Steering Committee of the Climate Governance and Environmental Services Fund (Funclima) and the Thematic Chambers that will bring together strategic actors in the discussion on Payments for Environmental Services (PES), Socio-environmental Safeguards, and Indigenous Peoples and Traditional Communities.
“The decisions and results achieved at this meeting are fundamental for the state of Rondônia to move forward on combating deforestation and tackling climate change. With the definition of the Steering Committee and the formation of the Thematic Chambers, it will be possible to plan the application of the resources already available in the state’s Climate Change Fund and, at the same time, detail the rules and guidelines for socio-environmental safeguards, respect for indigenous peoples and traditional communities and payment for environmental services,” said Beto Mesquita.
BVRio championed the agenda to define the institutions and respective representatives of civil society to make up the Management Council, an essential decision-making body to move forward with implementing this project’s second phase. “We are glad that the committee has been decided because it will make the main decisions of the climate governance policy in Rondonia,” explained Daniela Pires e Albuquerque.
BVRio is the state’s leading articulator playing a central role in broadening the debate and implementing instruments to tackle climate change. “We have been interacting with various representatives since 2017, when the first conversations began,” said Beto.
For the Rondônia State Secretary for Environmental Development (Sedam), Marco Antônio Lagos, the project is an opportunity to improve the state’s environmental public policies. “This Forum and the project activities are valid for us to have the best decision making, not only on the climate change aspect but also on environmental preservation, traditional communities, among other themes that involve Sedam’s competence.”
“We have a great appreciation for the consolidation and functioning of the Forum, both for the historical efforts and contribution of Ecoporé in the elaboration and creation of the policy, as well as for its importance as a state strategy in facing the climate crisis. We took over the coordination of the Safeguards technical chamber and will also be making up the Funclima management council and other civil society entities,” said Marcelo Ferronato, vice president of Ecoporé.
For Giovana Figueiredo, coordinator of public policies and international cooperation of FAS – Sustainable Amazon Foundation, “The Forum represents an important step within the activities developed by the project in Rondônia, as it strengthens the climate governance in the state. The decisions made resulting from the formation of the Steering Committee and the Thematic Chambers are fundamental and will serve as a basis for building the jurisdictional REDD+ system in the state.”
The establishment of the State Climate Change Forum was one of the main results of the efforts of the first stage of the project in Rondonia, in the scope of ‘Unlocking and Leveraging Low Emissions Development’, also known as ‘Janela B’, carried out in partnership between the Forum of Environment Secretaries of the Legal Amazon, the Governors’ Climate and Forests Task Force (GCF-TF) in Brazil and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The executive management is done by the Sustainable Amazon Foundation (FAS), which operates in Rondonia in partnership with BVRio, Ecoporé and Sedam.
The project operates in an integrated manner with a network of civil society organisations, offering technical support to the state governments of the Legal Amazon for accessing the voluntary carbon market through the ART/TREES standard, a standard of excellence that transparently guarantees the registration, verification and issuing of carbon credits, and ensures the collective construction of socio-environmental safeguards.
