GEO Brasil - UNEP

presentation of the
Minister of State for the Environment
Having worked for so many years with environmental issues
at both the state and federal levels, it is with undeniable
satisfaction, and even immense pleasure, that I see the
successful conclusion of this broad coordination effort of
the Brazilian Institute for Environment and Renewable
Natural Resources – IBAMA, resulting in the “Report on the
Perspectives for the Environment in Brazil - GEO-Brasil”
I must admit that, given the enormous challenge of
portraying the country’s environmental state as a whole,
and given the time constraints – the document began
effectively to be prepared in May 2001 and had to be
concluded before the Johannesburg World Summit on
Sustainable Development (August 26 - September 4, 2002),
I was concerned with the enormity of the work before them.
Nevertheless, I have always trusted the staff and the joint
partnership work that was developed to execute this project.
GEO-Brasil is one more persuasive example of the fact that
in environmental management, the dedication, creativity
and solidarity that were translated into the effort, enthusiasm
and collaboration of countless partner institutions, in
addition to the unrestricted support of the Ministry of
Environment, can lead us to produce major progress in
terms of quality that reaffirms, both domestically and
abroad, our unconditional commitment to the cause of
sustainable development.
From a thematic point of view, GEO-Brasil is quite
comprehensive as it covers not only socioeconomic and
cultural aspects, uses of land and subsoil, forests,
biodiversity, water resources, coastal and marine
environments, fishing resources, atmosphere, urban and
industrial areas, environmental disasters, health and
environment, public policies, but it also includes
assessments on the challenges and opportunities for the
Brazilian environment.
With this document, which is to be updated every two years,
we are taking another important step to better equip
environmental management in Brazil, since its data are
essential inputs for decision making by our authorities.
Furthermore it represents an extremely useful compendium
of information for all Brazilians.
I should thus like to congratulate my collaborators,
the public and private institutions and the non-governmental
organizations that worked so hard to make GEO Brazil a
reality.
I must also express my thanks to the essential support
given by the United Nations Environment Programme –
UNEP in providing the methodology to carry out this work,
which places us at the forefront in development of
information, according to international standards, prepared
on the environment on a global scale. We are thus in
harmony with the advanced methodologies and procedures
that are currently being employed in the Global Environment
Outlook, that is, the Global GEO.
GEO-Brasil comes, therefore, to fill a significant gap in
Brazilian environmental management and crowns all the
efforts of our federal administration that, under the
leadership of President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, has
always enthusiastically and boldly defended the path of
sustainable development as vital for the permanent progress
of the country and its people.
José Carlos Carvalho
Minister of State for the Environment