Governor of Pará, Helder Barbalho (MDB), was sworn in, on Wednesday (4), as president of the Interstate Consortium for Sustainable Development of the Legal Amazon (CAL). The ceremony was held at the Consortium's headquarters in Brasilia (DF), and was attended by the Minister of Integration and Regional Development, Waldez Góes, as well as governors and guests.

Barbalho was unanimously elected for the position, on December 19th, and will coordinate the collegiate during this year, replacing Waldez Góes, governor of Amapá. At the investiture ceremony, the governor of Pará reinforced the importance that the Consortium has achieved in the recent years. "We have elevated the Consortium to a protagonism never seen before. The Consortium effectively became a reference point for regional interlocution", he evaluated.

About the directions and priorities for 2023, Barbalho, for several times, pointed out the importance of keeping the environmental issue in the center of the discussions, without, however, forgetting the social issue, also prioritizing solutions for the almost 30 million inhabitants of the Amazon region. "We are a regional development consortium. We must, therefore, never give up the environmental discussion. But it is fundamental that we can discuss regional development, the local development model, opportunities to generate employment, to generate income, opportunities to reduce the social abysses that still exist in our region - essential issues for people's lives", highlighted Helder Barbalho.

We cannot allow environmental relations to be a vertical process. It has to be a horizontal process, respecting the federative units and their local projects" - Helder Barbalho

Consortium claims more protagonism in the discussions about the Amazon

During the ceremony, Helder highlighted the need for closer discussions with the federal government about the region. "I do not disregard the legitimacy of the Senate of the Republic (...), and I also respect the representatives of the Federal Chamber, but I understand that the sensibility of President Lula to renegotiate and rebuild the federative relations must be an asset that we must seek to use," he affirmed. "I expect we can demonstrate that the environmental actions must go through the discussion and debate in the Consortium. We deeply respect the administrative autonomy of the Ministry of the Environment and its inspection agencies, which need to be restructured and fulfill their missions. But we cannot allow environmental relations to be a vertical process. It has to be a horizontal process, respecting the federative units and their local projects", he concluded. 

Ministries - In his speech, Barbalho also referred directly to Waldez Góes and Jader Barbalho Filho, the new Minister of Cities, to ask them to act as representatives of the Amazon in the federal government. "They are two ministers in extremely important and relevant portfolios and that bring, to us, the hope of the Amazon presence in the ministry, so that you both can - not only in the Regional Integration agenda, in the Cities agenda - but that you both can fulfill the role of being representatives of the Amazon in the transversal discussions on the Esplanada dos Ministérios", he highlighted.

Click below to watch the speech (in Portuguese)

Commitment to COP30 in the Amazon

CAL's new president ended his speech by announcing that still on Wednesday he would meet with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mauro Vieira, and would take the opportunity to formalize to Itamaraty the request to hold COP 30, in 2025, in one of the Amazonian states.

About the Consortium - CAL is formed by the nine Amazonian states: Acre, Amapá, Amazonas, Mato Grosso, Maranhão, Pará, Rondônia, Roraima and Tocantins. They occupy 59% of the Brazilian territory, with a population of almost 30 million people.

CAL's mission is to accelerate the sustainable development of the Legal Amazon in an integrated and cooperative way, considering the regional opportunities and challenges. The Consortium's objective is to be a global reference in articulation, strategy, and governance to transform the Legal Amazon into a competitive, integrated, and sustainable region by 2030.