To strengthen the integration and development of agendas, the PCI Institute counts, from now on, on the participation of the Mato Grosso State Government as a member of the Governing Council, which is in charge of centralizing discussions and forwarding decisions on the actions to be carried out. The announcement was made during a meeting on 23 February.
The State Secretary for the Chief of Staff Office, Mauro Carvalho, stressed the determination of the State Government to be a key player in discussions on the environmental development agenda. He mentioned that Mato Grosso would be interested in taking a more active role in the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) – to be held in Glasgow (United Kingdom) in November. “Mato Grosso plays a vital role in food production in the world, we are examples of preservation and this needs to be put on our agenda. And this group here is key for our presence at this year’s COP to be very different from previous ones”, he revealed. Carvalho also informed that the government wants to establish a work plan with strategic agendas to be developed with the support of members of the Institute.
During the meeting, IDH introduced the new Global Director for Landscapes, Matthew Spencer, who took office earlier this year. “It is really striking to look at other territories and see how Mato Grosso stands out, not only for the civil society leadership, or the private sector participation but for the government engagement,” said Spencer.
IDH CEO, Daan Wensing, reinforced the commitment to support Mato Grosso in this sustainable development agenda and stressed the need for more financial support to implement the actions. “I believe we need to find funding sources so that we can actually deliver the actions we have committed to. This is crucial. The carbon agenda is coming back, and it can be one of those opportunities. We have several others ahead of us and we are here to be supportive,” he said.
In the last five years, IDH has invested around 9 million Euros in Mato Grosso, with more than 4 million Euros allocated to the PCI Strategy, with direct support to the structuring of its governance, including the Regional Compacts and the creation of the Institute. Another part of the resources is being used to help Sema-MT promote environmental and land regularisation. And the third line of support is the co-financing of projects with the private sector.
The international advisor of the Chief of Staff Office, Rita Chiletto, acknowledged the importance of IDH’s support and expressed the government interest in continuing the partnership. “We trust IDH and count on their expertise and support, making ourselves available as well, because Mato Grosso has a lot to accomplish. I thank Daan and the entire IDH team who have been our partners and we will continue to seek this support through Matthew”.
The executive director of the PCI Institute, Fernando Sampaio, presented the Action Plan, and explained details about the activities carried out in 2020 and the priorities for this year. “The goal is to develop the actions so that the Institute can build the necessary capacity to carry out the competencies and responsibility established in its creation (Decree No. 46, of 27/02/19),” he informed.
Besides the Chief of Staff Office, the State Secretariats of Economic Development, Environment, Family Agriculture and Planning will also join the PCI Institute’s Governing Council.