The industry from Pará begins its participation in COP30 with discussions on sustainability in mining and the circular economy.

The 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP30, officially began this Monday, December 10th, in Belém, and the Federation of Industries of the State of Pará (FIEPA) is present in the Blue Zone , the official venue for negotiations and national pavilions. At the National Confederation of Industry's stand, FIEPA held panels on strategic minerals and the circular economy this Monday. The program is part of the COP+ Journey, a movement led by FIEPA for a just transition in the Brazilian Amazon.

Focusing on the importance of strategic minerals for the global energy transition and the promotion of good environmental and social practices in the mining sector, the panel “Strategic Minerals: from sustainable extraction to value creation” discussed sustainable development in the mineral value chain, highlighted technological innovations and ESG practices in the mineral sector, and emphasized the relationship between mining and environmental preservation.

During the panel, Emerson Rocha, executive director of Simineral, highlighted the Santarém Charter, a project that unites the productive sector, government, and academia around strengthening transparency and environmental governance in mining in the Amazon. The dialogue included representatives from mining companies operating in the Amazon: Bianca Cabral, coordinator of Environmental Licensing of Projects and Mineral Exploration at OZ Minerals; Marco Braga, director of the Novo Carajás Program at Vale; and Anderson Baranov, CEO of Hydro. They highlighted new approaches to local development in mining regions, sustainable mining practices, and their challenges in the region.

Incentives for responsible and sustainable extraction and the modernization of the mining regulatory framework were also on the agenda. The Deputy Secretary for Environmental Management and Regulation of the State Secretariat for the Environment, Climate and Sustainability of Pará, Rodolpho Zahluth Bastos, highlighted the need to prioritize the licensing process for strategic minerals important for the energy transition, without changes to environmental control standards.

Zahluth also highlighted good practices in the sector and the need to show society the difference between responsible and illegal mining. “One example is the decarbonization of the production process; we have mining boilers that are already using biomass and no longer fuel. This separates what is more responsible mining from illegal mining. So, we need to know how to separate this from the dialogue with society. Often what comes to light is irregular mining, illegal mining, which is resolved with another management tool, which is inspection. We need to publicize these differences to society so that the dialogue can advance in a concrete and positive way,” he stated. The debate was moderated by Cleide Pinheiro, CEO of Temple and government relations advisor at FIEPA.

Circular Economy in focus.

During the afternoon, at the CNI booth, the Federation presented the panel "Circular Economy: transforming waste into resources," which discussed how to transform waste into economic assets, encouraging new markets and generating social benefits. Practical circular economy initiatives in different sectors were demonstrated, regulatory barriers and how to overcome them were debated, as well as the need to promote partnerships between government, industry, and society.

Among the main discussions were the challenges of financing a new circular economic model. Solutions already being adopted by the Amazonian industrial sector were also presented. Eduardo Figueiredo, Senior Vice President of Sustainability at Hydro, showed how the company has been changing its energy matrix, using açaí seeds as a less polluting fuel. Celso Pedroso, CEO of the Solvi Group, responsible for Guamá Waste Treatment, the company that manages the landfill in the Belém Metropolitan Region, discussed how biogas and biomethane, generated from organic waste, are a great solution for solid waste management in Brazil. “The way to evolve is to bring more and more technology to the system. Today in Brazil, we have 240,000 m³ of biomethane installed. The next step is its use for the production of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and green hydrogen,” he pointed out.

Catarina Corrêa, Sustainability and Public Affairs Manager at Bayer, demonstrated how the company works with the recycling of hard plastic from agricultural activity, and highlighted the challenges of financing sustainable projects in agriculture, the company's area of operation. "When we talk about regenerative agriculture, you only see the results in three years, so there is a financial difficulty, but at the same time we need to understand how to do this without falling into greenwashing," she pointed out.

Green financing was also highlighted in the presentation by Roberto Schwartz, credit director of Banco da Amazônia, who presented the bank's green credit options. “We need to qualify the demand that reaches the financial system, with mechanisms such as technical assistance and improved project development. In parallel, we need to foster technology and innovation, and for this reason, the bank launches calls for proposals every year to finance science,” he emphasized.

The panel was moderated by Deryck Martins, president of the FIEPA Environmental Council and technical coordinator of the COP+ Conference. “The objective was to highlight the magnitude of the challenges, but mainly the solutions that industries have implemented in their production processes to ensure that we can effectively make the current economic model more circular, changing that linear logic. We were able to bring several examples of how we can transform the current economy into a circular economy,” emphasized the coordinator.

Blue Zone - Located in the City Park, the Blue Zone is the space where the direction of international climate policies is defined. At COP30, the Blue Zone brings together countries, accredited organizations, and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in programs of dialogue, presentation of projects, strategies, and solutions for the climate agenda. It is the space where global diplomatic interest is focused on concrete responses for the environment.

At the CNI booth, FIEPA will also host the panel “Renewable Energies: Challenges and Opportunities for the Amazon” this Tuesday, the 11th, at 1:20 PM. On Wednesday, the 19th, the Federation will be present at the Business Finland booth with the panel “Global Women” at 11:00 AM; and at the Brazil Pavilion, at 1:45 PM with the panel “Traceability as a pillar for the sustainable development of the Amazon,” organized by the COP+ Journey. FIEPA's program in the Blue Zone continues until Thursday, the 20th, with three panels at the CNI booth: “The Importance of Decarbonization in the Amazon Industry,” at 10:00 AM; “Low-Carbon Economy: Paths to a Sustainable Amazon,” at 11:00 AM; and “The COP Journey and the Path to a Low-Carbon Economy,” at 12:00 PM.

Presence in the Green Zone - The COP+ Journey will also be presented at the Pará Pavilion, the main representation space in the Green Zone of the Conference. The movement will be present with the panels “COP+ Journey and industry, towards a new economic, social and environmental agenda in the Brazilian Amazon”, this Wednesday, the 12th; and “Bioeconomy and Just Energy Transition: The Potential of Biomass in the Decarbonization of Amazonian Industry”, on Friday, the 14th. The programs will present the results and strategies of the movement, highlighting advances in energy transition, traceability of production chains, attraction of green investments, and promotion of the leading role of women and traditional peoples.