On March 4 and 5, fourteen Brazilian women mayors were the protagonists of a meeting on climate change in Brasília organized by ICLEI South America and the Alziras Institute. The European Union, through the International Urban Cooperation Program for Latin America and the Caribbean and the Global Compact of Mayors for Climate and Energy, supported the initiative and helped promote gender equality and empower women accordingly. compliance with the Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (ADD).
The “Brazilian Mayors at the Vanguard of Climate Action” meeting was attended by the leaders of the municipalities of Boa Vista, Brasileia, Sorocaba, Conde, Rio Branco, Monteiro Lobato, Dois Irmãos, Monteiro, Quissamã, Goiás, Vila Nova dos Martírios, São Bento do Una, Vigia da Nazaré and São Cristóvão do Sul.
Brazilian women mayors were the protagonists of a meeting on climate change in Brasília (Photos by Mariana Raphael)
The workshop promoted the training of municipalities participating in the development of their greenhouse gas emission inventories, providing technical support in the implementation of a pilot energy project and promoting the exchange of good practices in relation to climate and sustainable energy.
The opening ceremony was attended by the executive secretary of ICLEI South America, Rodrigo Perpétuo, the director of the Alziras Institute, Marina Barros, the director of the International Urban Cooperation Program in Latin America and the Caribbean (IUC-LA), Claudio Acioly Jr, the European Union ambassador to Brazil, Ignacio Ybáñez Rubio, and the European Commission manager for the Foreign Policy Instrument, Lise Pate.
European Comission’s ambassador in Brazil, Ignacio Ybáñez Rubio
On that occasion, there was an act of adhesion of new municipalities to the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy and a panel on climate change and gender, connecting SDGs 5 and 11. In addition, there was space for the commitments and progress of the municipalities participating in sustainable development.
On the second day, IUC and ICLEI discussed the commitments of the Global Covenant for Climate and Energy, the signatories’ communication and compliance processes. Municipal representatives also participated in two dynamics: the first, so that each city knows the state of its locality in relation to the initiative’s commitments; the second, to help those present to map the actors to the municipal work plan.
The Director of IUC-LAC program, Claudio Acioly
The director of the IUC-LAC program, Claudio Acioly, said that “the participating women mayors demonstrate great leadership and commitment in the search for sustainable solutions for their cities. Workshops such as this one by ICLEL and Instituto Alziras seek to reinforce and monitor their work to make their territories healthy living spaces for their citizens ”, he said.
Brazil already has 210 million inhabitants, of which 86% live in cities and urban centers. In a country where municipalities have significant municipal autonomy, mayors play an important role in urban management and local development processes. Today there are 5,568 municipalities, 17 of which have more than one million people. In 641 municipalities there are women leaders, women mayors elected by direct vote of their citizens for a period of 4 years.
In an eminently urban continental country, cities and municipalities play a very important role in solving serious national and global problems, including inequality, access to goods and services, and in addressing the impacts caused by climate change.
Training of Brazilian women mayors, in Brasilia
About IUC-LAC (Latin America and the Caribbean)
The International Urban Cooperation Program (IUC), funded by the European Union, supports cities in different regions of the globe to connect and share solutions to common problems in sustainable urban development, within the framework of the New Urban Agenda and in the fight against climate change. The Latin America and Caribbean chapter of the IUC Global program is responsible for implementing the Global Compact of Mayors for Climate and Energy in the region (www.iuc-la.eu).
About the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy
The Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy formally brings together the old “Mayors Pact” and the European Union’s Mayors Pact, the two main initiatives to assist cities and local governments in the transition to a low carbon economy and demonstrate their global impact . Managed by the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change, Michael R. Bloomberg, and the Vice President of the European Commission, Maroš Šefčovič, the coalition comprises more than 10,000 cities on 6 continents and 135 countries, representing more than 800 million people, more than 10.7% of the world population. More information about the Global Mayors Covenant at http://pactodealcaldes-la.eu
About ICLEI South America
ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability is a global network of more than 1,750 local and regional governments committed to sustainable urban development. Active in more than 100 countries, we influence sustainability policies and promote local actions for low carbon development, based on nature, equitable, resilient and circular. Our network and team of experts work together, offering access to knowledge, partnerships and training to generate systemic changes in favor of urban sustainability. More information at http://sams.iclei.org/
About the Alziras Institute
Instituto Alziras is a non-profit civil society organization whose mission is to contribute to increasing female representation in politics, strengthening the candidacies and mandates of women in Brazil. Among the strategic objectives are the consolidation of a multiparty platform for the support, articulation and cooperation of women in politics, public management and the production and dissemination of narratives that value the participation of women in spaces of power and political decision.
