Bruno Bocchini
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Porto Alegre - The Minister of Environment, Marina Silva, said, yesterday (27), that she wants to intensify the process of "trilateral" aid to African countries. Trilateral aid involves an African country, a developed country, which will provide financial assistance, and Brazil, which will administer the resources. The Minister took part in the debates on sustainable development at the V World Social Forum (WSF).

"Instead of the developed countries carrying out cooperative actions directly in Portuguese-speaking African countries, they can contribute economically for Brazil to play this role. And we are capable of helping, for example, in the area of reforestation, through technical cooperation, sending Brazilian experts in this field," she explained.

For the Minister, the cultural similarity between these African countries and Brazil represents a determining factor for the success of such aid programs. "We believe that trilateral cooperation is very relevant, inasmuch as countries that have similar cultures and, at times, the same language, as is the case of Brazil, can pass their experiences on to these countries, while developed countries lack familiarity with these realities."

In the midst of the debates at the encounter in Porto Alegre, the Minister added that Brazil is searching for ways to take advantage of the approval of the Kyoto Protocol. The Protocol requires developed countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 5% in relation to 1990 pollution levels. These targets are supposed to be met during the first stage of the Protocol commitment, between 2008 and 2012. Brazil can "sell" its non-pollution quota to countries whose pollution levels exceed what is required by the accord.

Translation: David Silberstein