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Deforestation, circular economy and water: some environmental challenges in Colombia

2022-12-06T22:03:30.720Z


Government leaders, companies and civil society meet at the event 'Challenge of sustainability and the environment', organized by the Prisa Media Group, to find answers


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Colombia's environmental challenges are many.

Some are global, such as climate change and the loss of biodiversity, two crises that affect every country in the world.

But others are more local, such as deforestation that, although beginning to slow down, increased by 1.5% in 2021, or having become one of the most dangerous places in the world for environmental defenders.

Taking this scenario into account, leaders of the Government, companies and civil society met this Tuesday at

the Sustainability and Environment Challenge

event , organized by the Prisa Media Group, seeking to find tools to overcome these problems.

The meeting, which specifically touched on the issues of deforestation, circular economy and water care, was moderated by Alejandro Santos (Content Director at Prisa Media), Lucas Pombo (journalist for W Radio) and Fidel Franco (journalist for Caracol Radio). .

In order for the dialogue to be more open and free, the attendees attended with the commitment not to be summoned.

However, several of the ideas shared in the conversations shed light on what are the critical points for the environment in Colombia and the challenges that must be prioritized.

Some of the key voices that participated were Sandra Vilardy, Vice Minister of the Environment;

Luz Marina Mantilla, director of the Amazon Institute for Scientific Research SINCHI, Manuel Rodríguez Becerra, emeritus professor at the Universidad de los Andes, Manuel Becerra,

The researcher Luz Marina Mantilla during the meeting 'Challenge of sustainability and the environment'.PRISA MEDIA

During the first module, deforestation, the situation in the Amazon was widely resonated, since four of the six most affected municipalities are in this region.

It was recalled, for example, how illegal livestock farming has become the engine of this problem, since there are even more cows than people.

But the solution, it was reiterated, is not to condemn the peasants who inhabit the lands that could be conserved, but to recognize property rights for those who are committed to restoration and conservation.

In Colombia, many of the conflicts continue to be over land.

In the conversation about the circular economy, company leaders assured that what is known as "garbage" or "waste" must become an opportunity to create other products and even to boost the income of recyclers.

They talked about fique and corn packaging, and about the law to ban single-use plastics.

Although it was also pointed out that the circular economy goes beyond packaging and that one of the gaps in Colombia to promote this sector is having designers who know how to convert and promote new materials.

How to use biodiversity sustainably.

Finally, in the conversation about caring for water, it became clear that Colombia is an amphibious country, which must be thought of and governed from land and water.

Although the country is in a rainy season, a very strong drought may also come, for this reason it was remembered that better tools are needed to design the territory around the water and that its routes are transformed at a lower speed.

To this is added, in addition, the contamination and lack of drinking water in the country, since rivers like the Magdalena are one of the 20 rivers in the world that carry the most plastics into the seas, the exhibitors recalled, which indicates that Colombia it also needs new regulations, as well as stricter ones.

Access to drinking water, climate change, information and all the issues discussed during the meeting are also related to human rights.

Starting to recognize them as such is a first step for Colombia.

Source: elparis

All news articles on 2022-12-06

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