ICLEI South America

At a time when environmental issues are becoming increasingly important on the global agenda, winning the Elevate Prize can be a very important opportunity to consolidate ICLEI South America as a protagonist in our region in supporting municipalities and regions in adopting and implementing the environmental agenda at the local level.

Winning the Elevate Prize can also be an interesting opportunity to bring to the public a better understanding of the importance of the environmental issue in this decade that has been pointed as the decisive decade for action in relation to climate change, giving visibility to a robust initiative such as ICLEI SAMS and showing the different possible ways of acting on behalf of the environment and the climate.

Finally, the resources brought by an award such as the Elevate Prize can be extremely important in financing the organization's pilot projects, helping to finance new ideas, projects and works that, sometimes due to the lack of resources, did not have the opportunity to be executed. Or even enabling the scalability of projects that are already underway that have shown good results.

I’m from Belo Horizonte, capital city of the State of Minas Gerais, the first planned city in Brazil, built in the late XVIII century to be a symbol of modernity. After I've studied economics and a master’s degree in International Relations, I had the opportunity to lead the international relations department for the city of Belo Horizonte for 10 years. 

In addition, I’ve also worked in the State of Minas Gerais for 2 years. These experiences gave me the possibility to comprehend the territory dynamics, the people's needs and how local governments may take a special and important role in the international system. Beyond that, I was able to deeply understand how international cooperation could add an extra value to the public policies and can also contribute to building bridges, working as a facilitator for a city or for a diplomat from a local government. 

Now leading ICLEI South America for more than four years, these previous experiences allow me to take all the potential of this global organization to foster the transition to a more sustainable world. This is my view and my main objective: to foster sustainability from the local perspective to the global society!

ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability is a global network of more than 2,500 local and regional governments committed to sustainable urban development. Operating in more than 125 countries, we influence the sustainability policy and promote local actions for low-emission development, based on nature, equitable, resilient and circular.

ICLEI brings a strong urban component to national and global sustainability policies and translates it into actions, making sustainability an integral part of urban development and creating systemic changes in urban areas through practical and integrated solutions. We help cities and regions to anticipate and respond to complex challenges.

Our members and team of experts work together through peer exchanges, partnerships and capacity building to create systemic changes for urban sustainability.

ICLEI creates breeders between the local, regional, national and global government levels, advocating robust national and global sustainability policies that reflects the interests of local and regional governments and their communities.

ICLEI South America connects its more than 80 associated governments in seven countries to this global movement. Over these years, ICLEI SAMS stood out in the development and execution of projects on the themes of: Climate and Low Carbon Development, Resilience, Solid Waste, Sustainable Public Procurement, Urban Biodiversity, among others.

Much of the environmental agenda is usually linked to national governance, or at least it is the immediate association made. By unleashing connections between local and regional governments worldwide, through international cooperation, and by promoting training for these actors, ICLEI helps them to anticipate and respond to complex challenges, from urbanization and climate change to degradation and inequality ecosystem, spearheading a movement that seeks to put municipalities and regions at the forefront of the environmental debate.

In addition, at the subnational level, ICLEI drives changes along five interconnected paths that cross sectors and jurisdictional boundaries, in a unique and own methodology. They are: Low Carbon, Nature Based, Circular, Resilient and, finally, Equitable and People Centered. This vision allows local and regional governments to think holistically and adopt an integrated approach to sustainable urban development, fostering long-term and broader thinking about sustainable urban development.

ICLEI staff and subnational government representatives work collaboratively to identify challenges and take success factors to the next level. Through this joint action, we foster long-term and broader thinking about sustainable urban development.

These paths incorporate the goals and values established in the global sustainability agenda and constitute a way of achieving progress at all levels.

ICLEI SAMS connects its more than 80 associated governments in seven countries to a global movement of local and regional governments committed to sustainable urban development, reaching around 50 million people in our region alone. ICLEI seeks to influence sustainability policies and boost local action for low carbon development, based on nature, equitable, resilient and circular, and through these 5 paths of the methodology created by ICLEI we seek to:

1) curb climate change through a path of low emission development, reducing environmentally harmful pollutants and the emission of greenhouse gases;

2) prioritizing healthy local environments, in which air, water, soil and all natural resources that sustain life and health are protected and nourished;

3) encourage the use of recyclable and shareable resources, reducing the production of waste;

4) promoting resilience within the scope of local governments, bringing greater adaptability and resistance from actors to rapid changes in context; and

5) fostering development that builds more just, livable and inclusive urban communities, curbing poverty.

By supporting local governments in our region we are able to bring an impact not only for the inhabitants of these places, but for humanity as a whole, since the environmental issue does not respect borders.