15/07/2010 To oversee
and monitor the actions of the National
Implementation Plan (NIP) of the first stage
of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent
Organic Pollutants, in Brazil, a coordination
group comprising representatives of the
Ministries of Environment; Health; Labour
and Employment;
Development, Industry and Foreign Trade;
of civil society organizations and of the
industrial sector was set up. The ordinance
establishing the creation of the group was
published on Wednesday (July 14) in the
Official Gazette.
Since 2004, when Brazil
ratified the Stockholm Convention, the country
has made a commitment to adopt measures
to eradicate or minimize the use and the
global circulation of substances classified
as Persistent Organic Pollutants (Pops)
- chemical substances that are resistant
to environmental degradation and toxic to
humans and animals.
Brazil has joined the
group of 164 countries that are committed
to control all stages of the life cycle
of the Pops, since production, importation/exportation,
until the use and disposal, aiming at the
gradual elimination of these kinds of substances.
For further information
on Persistent Organic Pollutants (Pops),
visit:
http://www.chem.unep.ch/pops/
+ More
Brazil hosts conference
on the impacts of climate change in semi-arid
regions
19/07/2010 - Cadija
Tissiani - Fortaleza (Ceará) will
receive in August the Second International
Conference: Climate, Sustainability and
Development in Semi-arid Regions - ICID
2010. The meeting involves more than 90
countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America,
and about 2,000 participants, and aims to
include effectively the issues related to
the effects of global warming in arid and
semi-arid areas in the national and international
agendas.
The Conference will
generate, consolidate and synthesize data
and studies on climate change and will identify
actions to promote sustainable development
in semi-arid regions of the planet. It is
promoted by the Centre for Management and
Strategic Studies (CGEE), in partnership
with the Ministries of the Environment and
of Science and Technology, the State Government
of Ceará and national and international
institutes of research.
The expectation is that
actors involved in this agenda, including
policy makers, scientists, representatives
of international organizations, civil society
and private sector have the opportunity
to share experiences and knowledge obtained
on semi-arid regions issues over the past
20 years, as variability, vulnerability,
socioeconomic and environmental impacts,
adaptation actions and sustainable development.
They will make recommendations to assist
in the creation and implementation of public
policies for sustainable development in
these areas.
About 35% of the world
populations live in arid and semi-arid areas,
which represent 41% of the planet's surface.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change (IPCC), these regions
will be the most affected by global climate
change. Despite this scenario, the inhabitants
of these areas are still underrepresented
in discussions such as COP-15.
In Brazil, 1,482 municipalities
of the semi-arid regions which concentrate
most of the country's poverty are directly
affected by the problem, according to the
National Programme for Combating Desertification
and Mitigating the Effects of Drought. Studies
also indicate that nearly 20% of the Brazilian
semi-arid regions will be gravely affected,
resulting in environmental and socioeconomic
consequences, such as soil degradation and
compromised food production, extinction
of native species and degradation of water
resources.
The Conference is organized
into four main themes: Climate and Environment;
Climate and Sustainable Development; Governance
and Sustainable Development; and Political
Processes and Institutions.
History
The first International
Conference: Climate, Sustainability and
Development in Semi-arid Regions took place
in 1992, also in Fortaleza. In its first
edition, the meeting was attended by some
1,200 participants from 45 countries. Created
as a preparatory event for the Rio-92, the
ICID has provided scientific data and information
on the semi-arid regions in the world and
managed to open the eyes of the Northeast
Intelligence to problems in these areas
in Brazil.
The first ICID had a
huge impact, both nationally and internationally.
"The papers displayed during the first
ICID and the Declaration of Fortaleza with
policy recommendations for the arid and
semi-arid regions were taken to Rio in 1992.
Many participants from Africa and Asia also
arrived in Rio in 1992 as negotiators",
said Antonio Rocha Magalhães, executive
coordinator of the Conference. The first
edition of the ICID has also served as a
decisive factor for the creation of the
UN Convention to Combat Desertification
(UNCCD).
Several studies and
publications that will provide subsidies
for the 2010 meeting are derived from discussions
of the first ICID. Between the ICID first
and second editions, three conventions were
adopted and put into operation: the United
Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
(UNCCD), the UN Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC), the Kyoto Protocol and the United
Nations Convention on Biodiversity (UNCBD).
They all contribute in synergy to strengthen
the fight against desertification and preserve
the biodiversity present in the arid and
semi-arid regions around the globe. The
expectation is that the ICID in 2010 will
have the same impact as a preparatory conference
in events such as the Rio+20.
