Brazil Has Lost Thousands of Lives to Climate Negligence, Says Rio's Environment Secretary
For Tainá de Paula, who took office last month, Brazil needs to launch actions in its favelas, where key challenges include urban waste, rain, and deforestation
Mar.24.2023 1:08PM
Cristiane Fontes
OXFORD
The new Rio de Janeiro Municipal Secretary for Environment and Climate grew up amidst a number of urban problems affecting her city. Since last month, it has been her mission to address and solve them. Born in the Praça Seca district, in the Loteamento community in western Rio, Tainá de Paula says she realised very early on that discussions on sustainability only took place far from where she lived.
Thirty years have passed, and water is still a key topic in the favela where I came from. We have perhaps one of the highest rainfall rates in Latin America, but there is still no wider discussion about this, she says. Tainá is an architect, and was elected city councillor in 2020, representing the PT party.
In her opinion, the root cause of this problem is racism, which translates into lack of investment in peripheral areas.
Over the past 10 years, Brazil has lost thousands of lives due to negligence and the absence of serious climate change mitigation policy, she points out, citing the recent tragedy in the area of São Sebastião, in the state of São Paulo, and the heavy rains in Petrópolis, in the state of Rio.
More:
https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/internacional/en/scienceandhealth/2023/03/brazil-has-lost-thousands-of-lives-to-climate-negligence-says-rios-environment-secretary.shtml