“Protecting the environment saves lives,” says Marina Silva in statement to Brazil

During a speech broadcast live nationally last Tuesday, June 4—the eve of World Environment Day—Brazil’s Environment and Climate Change Minister Marina Silva said that preventing tragedies like the one in Rio Grande do Sul demand engagement and solidarity from society.

When we protect rivers, forests, and our rich biodiversity, we are in fact protecting and caring for the people" 
Marina Silva, Minister of the Environment and Climate Change

“Extreme weather events such as the rains that hit Southern Brazil clearly show how our lives are dependent on a balanced environment. This situation demands awareness and immediate action from us all. The government responded quickly in a number of ways, hand-in-hand with the state and the municipalities, to take care of people, communities and businesses,” said the minister, adding that environmental preservation must be perceived as a way of protecting life in its broadest sense.

“Protecting the environment saves lives; it means ensuring a good life for riverside dwellers, for small-businesses owners, for those who live on the outskirts of big cities, for traditional communities and for people living in hazardous areas," said the Environment Minister.

Marina Silva highlighted the Federal Government’s efforts to strike a balance between fostering economic activity in all sectors and preserving nature.

"The next few years will be dedicated to protecting and recovering biodiversity; to creating conservation units; to the sustainable use of forests; to recovering degraded lands; and to combating deforestation and wildfires."

Full statement by Brazil’s Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Marina Silva.

Good evening! Tomorrow, June 5, is World Environment Day—a great opportunity to reflect on what we are doing to our planet.

Extreme weather events such as the rains that hit Southern Brazil clearly show how our lives are dependent on a balanced environment.

When we protect rivers, forests, and our rich biodiversity, we are in fact protecting and caring for people.

We are ensuring the conditions that sustain economic activities across all sectors.

The climate tragedy in Rio Grande do Sul brought suffering to thousands of families, especially the poorest—those who live in precarious housing conditions and are always the main victims of climate catastrophes.

This cycle cannot continue.

The current situation demands not only awareness, but immediate action.

The government responded rapidly to the tragedy in a number of ways, hand-in-hand with the state and municipalities, to take care of people, communities and businesses.

Tragedies such as this one demand profound engagement and solidarity from us—and our commitment to solutions that prevent them from happening again.

Global temperatures are increasing and the world is facing the extremely momentous effects of ever more frequent and severe extreme weather events.

In Brazil, the occurrence of increasingly frequent landslides, floods, droughts and desertification processes portend a difficult future, especially for the most vulnerable.

Protecting the environment means saving lives and ensuring a good life for riverside dwellers, small-business owners, for those who live on the periphery of big cities, for traditional communities and for people living in hazardous areas.

Unfortunately, there are still many who question the link between human activity and the reaction of nature.

In recent years, this denialism delayed the adoption of urgent measures, created excuses for rule-breaking and animosity against environmental institutions and officials, and wasted precious time.

We are working responsibly to try to make up for all of this lost time, and we are doing all we can for the benefit of all Brazilian citizens.

Under President Lula's guidance, all government sectors are taking every effort to address climate change transversally and in dialogue with all of society.

We have updated the National Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Strategy [Estratégia Nacional de Mitigação e Adaptação à Mudança do Clima] and are going to launch a National Climate Emergency Plan [Plano Nacional para o Enfrentamento da Emergência Climática]. This plan caters to municipalities and areas most at risk and aims to structure the government's capacity to deal with impending disasters, strengthening risk analysis, prevention and preparedness.

Faced with the urgency of reversing deforestation trends in Brazil—which have a direct effect on the climate— President Lula has committed to zero deforestation in all Brazilian biomes. We have already reached important results, such as a 50% drop in Amazon deforestation, as well as significant reductions in the Pampa and Atlantic Rainforest biomes. We are also working towards good results in the Cerrado, Pantanal, and Caatinga biomes.

This moment clearly indicates a change of direction.

We are being challenged to think together, to create sustainable technologies and to transition to non-polluting energy sources, but with more social equity and sustainable investments for all sectors of our economy.

We are working in this direction.

Over the next few years, we will dedicate our actions to the protection and recovery of our biodiversity, to the creation of new conservation units, to the sustainable use of our forests, to the recovery of degraded lands and to combating the clearcutting and burning of our forests.

This will also leverage the bioeconomy to generate jobs, income and prosperity while respecting indigenous peoples and traditional communities.

It will also increase environmental quality across cities and the countryside; take care of water resources and the ocean and bring solutions for solid waste.

Next year, we are going to host COP30 in Belém. Right here, in our home, Brazil, we are going to make the difference and show the world that we are united in our efforts to build an ecologically sustainable future and to create a cycle of prosperity for all Brazilians—with democracy, less social inequality, greater respect for diversity and sustainability.

Thank you.