Brasília, 2009.09.16
The Minister of the Institutional Relations, José Múcio Monteiro, and the Minister of the Environment, Carlos Minc, participated on August 20 in the conference “Green Jobs and Sustainable Constructions”, organized by the Secretary of the Council of Economical and Social Development (CDES) of the Secretary of the Institutional Relations of the Republic Presidency.
Minc affirmed that the Brazilian energetic matrix is one of the cleanest in the world. However, “in the last years, it got a little worse due to the oil and coal thermal plants”. He said “one of the current discussions is how to assure the stay of the appropriate matrix concerning efficiency, renewable energy and CO2 emissions”. 
Concerning the wind energy issue, Minc highlighted, “Brazil is losing the game”. Comparing to Portugal, he said that the country has a use eight times bigger than Brazil has, even Portugal being only three times the size of Rio de Janeiro.
A good example for licensing, according to the Minister, is the Plan of the Tocantins Basin which has been taken to the National Council of Water Resources and contemplates issues such as irrigation, licensing and use of the basin in an integrated way. “This does not mean licensing in block, but less judicialized, because it is integrated”, he affirmed.
The environmental issue, according to Minc, has been advancing in the country. The Winds Letter releases in Rio Grande do Norte, which considers primordial aspects to develop wind energy in the country, is an example of this improvement. The Letter suggests annual auctions, tax reductions on wind energy equipment, the connection of the most favorable places with wind energy potential and electrical net, among others.
Minc assured the government is about to release a plan so that the productive sector compromises the necessary to the mineral coal production. “Brazil is the only country in the world which can expand the production of bio-fuels and food. We have enough lands to increase this production”, he assured.
Green jobs: a good option for the challenges of the 21st Century
According to the specialist of the International Organization of Work (OIT), Peter Poschen, Brazil has been turning into one of the main partners in Green Jobs, which are all those jobs that contribute to reduce the impact in the environment. According to him, “environment is also a social theme”. When highlighting the climate changes affect employment and income generation, he remembered the Haiti case in 2008, where four hurricanes meant a loss of 15% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the country. “It is essential that there is an intervention to reduce the emission of gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect”, he said.
Poschen still presented information about sectors of high potential to have green jobs, among them, public transportation, waste treatment, agriculture and civil construction. In the European Union, for example, the buildings represent 23% of the gas emissions and 46% of the total energy consumption. “The increase of efficiency could represent more than 1 million jobs a year only in the construction”, he adds.
The concept of green jobs is associated to the appropriate conditions of work. “A non-decent job is also a non green one”, highlighted Poschen. He also mentioned the case of China, where there are more than 700,000 people working in waste recycling of computer equipment. However, the sector is not structured and workers do not have perspectives to have a different situation. Considering this, this kind of work, even protecting the environment cannot be considered a green job. A similar situation can be observed by the garbage collectors in Brazil.
According to Poschen, in all the countries, a limiting factor for the increase of green jobs is the qualification of workers and of companies. “Without qualified people and prepared companies, one cannot utilize the technology potential”, he comments. And the economical crisis, for him, “is a stimulus for the economy”, especially on what concerns public transportation, electricity distribution nets, buildings and river sanitation. “The green jobs are a way to deal with two challenges of the 21st century: environment and lack of decent job”, he concludes.
Governments should elaborate codes for a sustainable construction
Orivaldo Barros, Senior Consultant of the BRE Sustainable Construction and Regeneration, with headquarters in London (England), was the second speaker of the Conference. He spoke about the experiences of the sustainable construction in different countries.
According to Barros, England has more than 3 million people working in the construction sector and one of the obstacles for the development of the sustainable construction is the high cost. However for him, this is the wrong point of view.
He mentioned, as examples of sustainability in the world: a volunteering program in Australia called “The Green Star”; the Chinese Code which exists since 1987, but needs new patterns in its rules; the use of modern methods of construction in Japan, reducing generation of residues, among others..
“There are many obstacles for the sustainable constructions, but there are many opportunities”, he said. According to the consultant, it is necessary to have codes and patterns for the sustainable constructions and this role must be played by the government with the participation of all the involved sectors, the so-called stakeholders.
The change of world view towards sustainability
According to Laura Valente de Macedo, Regional Director of ICLEI Local Governors for Sustainability, Secretary for Latin America and Caribbean, sustainable development depends on education. “Information is important, but it is not enough. It is necessary to educate through example, educate in the institutions, respect the non-governmental organizations that participate in the civil society”, she said. For her, Brazil has the opportunity of skipping steps due to the enormous number of people eager to work and to have dignity in life. “The (Brazilian) Program My House, My Life is a golden opportunity for the federal, state and municipal governments to work together and skip the step of development based on fossil energy”, she said. For her, the growth towards sustainability depends on a change of world view which begins daily.
Confea in the plans for CBIC
For the President of the Brazilian Chamber of the Construction Industry (CBIC) and a member of the Council of Economical and Social Development of the Republic Presidency, Paulo Safady Simão, the Program My House, My Life is a great example of sustainability. He highlights the projects “Sustainable Esplanada” and “Planseq - Civil Construction” as good initiatives from the government. It is about a plan of qualification and professional insertion for the beneficiaries of the program “Bolsa Família”. The project planned by CBIC aims to modernize hydraulic and electrical systems and rationalize the architectural space of the State buildings at the Esplanada dos Ministérios and at the Praça dos Três Poderes.
Paulo Simão believes that for the accomplishment of a construction project, seven aspects must be considered: energy efficiency, rational use of water, technological innovation, training and improvement of the labor, quality management, residues management and Green protection.
For the implementation of the sustainable construction and Green jobs in Brazil, CBIC has some partners, among them Confea, acting in the Program of Technological Innovation.
The numbers of the civil construction in Brazil
The President of the Brazilian Council of Sustainable Construction, Marcelo Takaoka, presented some important information about the sector. The civil construction and estate, according to the Takaoka´s explanation, are responsible for 40% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the world. Besides, the sectors are responsible for 40% of the material consumed in all over the world and for 30% of the generation of solid waste.
For Takaoka, who is part of the United Nations Organization for the construction of a prototype of a sustainable house, besides political policies other factors are necessary in Brazil for motivating the increase of sustainable construction. “Regulation tools, economical instruments, fiscal measures, volunteering tools, among other factors, are essential for the growth in this area”, he said.
Trends for a sustainable city
The National Secretary of Housing of the Ministry of the Cities, Inês Magalhães, pointed as future trends the integration of the green building to the environment and the total use and management of residues. “Besides, the future saves for us more eco-efficient materials and buildings which can produce the energy they consume”, she said. Another trend she pointed out is the water saving.
“The work of this Secretary is to assure citizens their right to a sustainable city”, Inês explained. She highlighted some guidelines such as environmental agenda, environmental licensing, the Project My House My Life, among others. “The challenge is to install each of these guidelines in the states and in the counties”, she said.
Energy matrix is ahead
While some rich countries have their energy matrix at about 6% of renewable energy, in Brazil it is responsible for 47% of the total of its matrix. “England, for instance, has only 3% of renewable energy in its matrix”, said the director of the Department of Energy of the Ministry of International Affairs, André Corrêa do Lago. “Rich countries spend a lot of energy. The reason for this is the cold weather. The heating systems demand a lot”, he explained.
According to him, the biggest problem to be solved in Brazil is the energy one, but inequality and quality of life for the population are also important. Therefore, he explained some counties have benefits for projects and implementation of landfills financed by developed countries. “They do not have how to reduce the energy consumption there, and then they invest in developing countries and get carbon credits”, he explained. “The idea is to divert the attention of energy efficiency and the environmental agenda and focus on projects from the developing countries”, he concluded.
Transportation enters the final green calculation
At the end of the meeting, a question that was asked called the participants attention. A green building which does not have an efficient public transportation cannot be considered 100% green. “A building which make people use a car to be able to arrive is not totally sustainable”, André Corrêa do Lago, from MIA, said after comments from the audience.
At the end of the meeting, the counselor of CDES Paulo Speller highlighted that one of the biggest problems for the sustainable construction in Brazil is the lack of labor. “We need innovation, with researches, new materials, new technologies. We do need people to develop all this”, he said.
Beatriz Leal and Tânia Machado
Confea’s Communication Staff
