Our campaign spotlight shines now on São Paulo (Brazil), a region that has a long history of collaboration with our network and a commitment to fight for a sustainable future. In the video submitted by the region, Sub-Secretary of Environment Eduardo Trani, recalls the first initiatives, almost 20 years ago, that started the mission of recognizing the work regions do to respond to the many challenges of sustainability.

Mr. Trani calls for further recognition of regional and sub-national involvement in the processes fighting for a sustainability, saying “although the NDCs are pledged by party countries they will be carried out at the level of our territories.”

At the moment, São Paulo is enacting a series of projects with the aim of creating a more sustainable region.

Its Municípios Paulistas Resilientes Project combines efforts for capacity building and the promotion of public policies facing the impacts of climate change. Launched last month, this initiative’s mission is to train municipalities to be able to prepare climate adaptation plans by understanding their own climate vulnerabilities. This is a pioneering initiative in the country, and it aims to expand from 13 municipalities to 645 in the coming years.

Additionally, São Paulo has recently began its Novo Rio Pinheiros Program which aims to revitalize one of the most important symbols of the city, its river. With the goal of making sure the area around the riverbanks can be turned into a new public space for leisure, entertainment and work, the program wants to clean up the waters of the river by 2022 so it can effectively become a part of city life. The Novo Rio Pinheiros project will remove the garbage both on the surface, and the one accumulated at the bottom of the river and will reduce the amount of untreated sewage that reaches it.

Watch the full intervention by Sub-secretary Trani below:

Subsecretary of Environment Eduardo Trani discusses work with Regions4

Further reading

To read more on the Municípios Paulistas Resilientes project click here.

If you wish to know more about the Novo Rio Pinheiros Program and how it relates to the SDGs, go here.

#WhatsAtState launch article.

Climate Group website.