The Interreg CILIFO Project could contribute to firefighting and the prevention of climate change in countries such as Chile and Brazil.
Brussels. -September 2019.- The European Commissioner for trade, Cecilia Malmström, took part in Forum Europe, an event organised by the Nueva Economía Forum, where she talked about current challenges of international trade, multilateralism and trade agreements. Malmström pointed out the important achievements of the EU in international trade with countries such as Japan or Vietnam and regions such as Latin America. In relation to Latin America, she emphasized the Association Agreement with MERCOSUR just a few months ago after 20 years of negotiation. She said, these agreements “reflect the global challenges such as climate change or the digital economy and the development needs”.
Regarding climate change, Malmström noted that the MERCOSUR treaty contains specific commitments on environmental protection, such as the implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change by the Member States, including Brazil, something that is particularly important after the fires that devastated the Amazon last August: “Brazil committed in the Paris Agreement to a 37% reduction in emissions and to replant 12 million hectares of trees in the Amazon by 2030. In the MERCOSUR Agreement, these commitments are reinforced, giving the EU the possibility to review its compliance and to start a consultation process in the event of non-compliance”, she remarked.
During the event, Juan Manuel Revuelta, CEO of Finnova Foundation, presented to the Commissioner CILIFO, a project on the fight and prevention of forest fires co-financed by the European Commission’s ERDF funds through Interreg POCTEP Programme (2014-2020). This is the Interreg project with the largest ERDF contribution for co-financed projects by the European Union in the field of forest fires prevention and suppression, with a total budget of 24.6 million euros. Focused on forest fires prevention and suppression with leading technology, it also has the first vertical incubator-accelerator to support entrepreneurship in the areas of prevention, firefighting and restoration of burned areas.
CILIFO could contribute to create new environmental practices in the Amazon and other Latin American regions in the field of firefighting, particularly in the areas of prevention, operation and restoration of burned areas. In fact, this project is known Chile, where it will be presented through Expo Emergencia, the forum for the exchange of knowledge,
experiences, proposals, new developments and challenges in matters of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) as a consequence of climate change, including forest fire.
The Finnova Foundation not only has CILIFO in its objectives to combat climate change, but has also launched the Firefighting Startup Europe Awards, an innovative opened tool to indent and support entrepreneurship with new ideas in the field of the firefighting, creating a public-private partnership, enabling them to access European funds by drafting projects. In addition, Finnova is a member of Climate-KIC España, the Spanish Centre for Innovation in Climate Change.
To see Cecilia Malmström’s speech at Forum Europa, click here
The speech on the relation of the EU-MERCOSUR Treaty with climate change and the fires in the Amazon between the minutes 20:41 and 21:49.