Environmental Congress opens in Sao Paolo
Today, the first German-Brazilian trade fair for environmental technology opened in Sao Paolo, Brazil. More than 140 German and Brazilian companies are participating in ECOGERMA, the four-day trade fair where the entire range of environmental technologies is presented. The German chamber of commerce abroad in Sao Paolo organised the event with the support of the German government. Parallel to the trade fair, an environmental congress is taking place, which was opened jointly by Matthias Machnig, State Secretary at the Federal Environment Ministry and Izabella Teixeira, Executive Secretary at the Brazilian Ministry for the Environment.
State Secretary Machnig said: "We are facing great ecological challenges: climate change, globally spreading environmental pollution, loss of biological diversity. We must find economic solutions to these ecological problems. This entails major economic opportunities, in particular for German companies which have a leading position on the global market for environmental technologies. The economy benefits from ambitious environmental policies, as they reduce the costs of energy, resources and waste disposal. In addition, they also promote the development of processes and products." State Secretary Machnig emphasised that only those economies that prepare for the challenges of climate change early on and recognise the necessity of becoming more resource and energy efficient will prosper in the long term.
At the event "Greening the Economy: opportunities for climate change, innovation and sustainable growth", representatives of the governments and industry and other experts discuss topics such as sustainable management, raw materials and materials efficiency, ecological water management, the expansion of renewable energies, energy efficiency and climate protection measures under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol.
State Secretary Machnig discussed the possibilities for enhancing bilateral relations with his Brazilian colleague with biodiversity as one priority.