Natural Cotton Color participates in a seminar about climate change

Francisca Vieira, CEO of Natural Cotton Color, participated in the Seminar “Sustainability, Climate Change and Environmental Services” held on May 15, 2024 at University of the Amazon (Unama), in Rondônia. The invitation came from the event’s organizer, the Municipal Secretariat for the Environment and Sustainable Development of Porto Velho (SEMA-PV) and the organizer Permian Brasil.

Marked by growing climate challenges, the seminar highlighted the urgent need for actions for a sustainable future, with debates and real examples of effective solutions contributing to the replication of more innovative models of climate solutions.

The hybrid event received more than 150 participants in person at Unama Imigrantes and had more than 300 registrants for the live broadcast, including professionals from public organizations, teachers, technicians, students and other interested parties. The full event is available on Permian Brasil’s YouTube.

Opening and central theme

After the opening by the Secretary of Environment and Sustainable Development of Porto Velho, Mr. Roberval Zúniga, and other members of the panel, the seminar featured a keynote speech by Dr. Miguel Milano, Senior Advisor to Permian Brasil. Milano presented “The Challenges of Sustainability in the Global Political Context – carbon credits and other market mechanisms for the conservation of the nature on which we depend”, demonstrating his extensive knowledge and experience in the area of ​​environmental conservation.

During the program, panelists presented innovative cases on environmental conservation and sustainable development.

Among the guests, Francisca Vieira, CEO of Natural Cotton Color, presented organic cotton that is already born colored, whose production process from the field to the textile and clothing industry generates water savings of 87.5%. She emphasized the importance of the production chain as an example of a sustainable solution focused on family farming – whose farmers receive the best price per kilo of cotton in Brazil. Francisca emphasized that this Local Production Arrangement – APL not only promotes environmental sustainability, but also generates employment and income for local communities. The CEO highlighted that the cotton APL was presented in 2018 as an example of a production chain aligned with climate change in 2018 at the World Economic Forum (WTO-UN) in Geneva. (learn more at this link). “Essentially because our cotton is grown without irrigation in the semiarid region by family farmers, with very low rainfall, and yet we manage to obtain 1.2 tons of raw cotton per square meter,” she said.

Dr. Miguel Milano praised Francisca’s presentation. He stated that Natural Cotton Color exemplifies a sustainable production chain that combines organic farming in the semi-arid region with high value for the final products. According to Milano, this approach is essential for states like Rondônia, which has an economy based on agriculture and faces significant climate challenges.

“Rondônia is an essentially ‘agro’ state that is at the same time a cause of climate change due to deforestation, as it has suffered from changes, notably due to successive droughts, but also due to floods,” said the senior advisor at Permian Brasil.

In addition to Vieira, Juliane Freitas (FGB), Regiane Borsato (LIFE Institute), Clóvis Ricardo Schrappe Borges (SPVS), Renato Rosenberg (Brazilian Forest Service/MMA), Albert Aguiar and Ana Cidin (Permian Brasil) and Lindoval Silva (Resex Rio Cautário) were also present.

The seminar stood out as a milestone in the discussion on public policies and sustainable practices in Brazil, with an emphasis on innovation and successful examples such as the colored cotton production chain in Paraíba.

The event was supported by the LIFE Institute, FGB, SPVS, UNAMA, Natural Cotton Color and the Brazilian Forest Service/MMA.