Minas Gerais Agency | Government of Minas reinforces commitment to sustainability in sugar-energy sector workshop

Directors of the State Environment and Water Resources System (Sisema) participated, on Tuesday (2/4), in the opening of the IV Workshop on the Environment and Sustainability of the Bioenergetic Sector of Minas Gerais, held at the Federation of Industries of the State of Minas Gerais (Fiemg), in Belo Horizonte.

In their speeches, the managers cited advances in environmental policies and reinforced the Minas Gerais Government’s commitment to increasingly idealizing a scenario favorable to sustainable development.

The Secretary of State for Environment and Sustainable Development, Marília Melo, highlighted the importance of the bioenergy sector for society. For Marília, other sectors of the economy must follow the example of bioenergy, promoting a circular economy and reducing pollutant emissions.

“This is a sector that has evolved over time and, today, is an example of a circular economy, as nothing is lost and everything is reused. This is the trend. The sector advanced, as it followed environmental sustainability management as the world expects from all sectors of the economy,” he stated.

Marília highlighted ethanol production as an example of sustainability on the part of the sugar-energy sector. For the secretary, the use of renewable and plant-based fuel should be used on a larger scale in passenger vehicles, instead of engines powered by electrical energy.

Licensing with predictability

Another point defended by Sisema directors during the opening of the workshop was the adoption of environmental licensing with predictability for entrepreneurs.

Currently, the State Environmental Foundation (Feam), which is responsible for environmental regularization in Minas, works with time-based analysis and not on the quantity of processes, thus creating a favorable environment for business, especially sustainable ones.

This is what the president of Feam, Rodrigo Franco, reported.

“This brings predictability, governance and creates a favorable environment so that we can have sustainability and develop Minas Gerais more and more, with more ethanol, more sugar, more biomethane”, he said.

Marília Melo, in turn, highlighted that the topic was widely debated during the administrative reorganization of the State, within the scope of Sisema, in 2023.

However, she recalled that there is something beyond licensing that is observed by society: the environmental performance of economic sectors.

“Licensing is the beginning of an enterprise, but the environmental performance of the sectors is what society wants from everyone, especially the economic sectors”, he concluded.

Speeches

After the opening, Marília gave a lecture on the theme “Administrative Reorganization of the State, within the scope of Semad”.

On the occasion, the secretary detailed the main points that reinforce the Minas Gerais Government’s commitment to environmental preservation and sustainability. Find out more about the topic here.

Other lectures will be given at the workshop this Wednesday (3/4) by Sisema directors on various topics, such as the Minas Gerais Water Security Plan (PMSH) and environmental intervention in the state.

The workshop, which aims to promote the gathering of existing experiences in the sugar-energy sector, is carried out by the Minas Gerais Sugar-Energy Industries Association (Siamig Bioenergia), in collaboration with Gaia Consultoria Ambiental and the NGO Impar.