Meio Ambiente

After a meeting with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs of the United Kingdom, Hilary Benn, on Wednesday (November 18), the Brazilian minister of the Environment, Carlos Minc, said that Brazil and England are going to work together to enforce "a crackdown on trafficking of chemical, medical and domestic waste". And furthermore, the British government will support Brazil in the negotiations to make the Biodiversity Access and Benefit-Sharing become adopted by the countries participating at the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (COP-10) in October, in Japan. It will ensure resources for the mega-diverse countries by the use of its natural heritage.

It was also agreed that the two nations would build an agenda of understanding with the countries of the Basel Convention, which deals with the disposal of waste, toxic or not, so as to create strict rules to curb the actions of companies in the export of waste and create punishment mechanisms for those who smuggle garbage.

Minc also announced a "strong partnership" to counter the positions that could lead the UN Convention on Climate Change (COP-15) to failure. According to him, that will pressure developed countries to present concrete targets and commitments at the meeting to be held next month in Denmark.

The secretaries of the MMA on Climate Change, Suzana Kahn, and Biodiversity and Forests, Maria Cecilia Wey, and team members by the Secretary of the British government also attended the meeting at the British Embassy, in Brasília.