The Northeast Regional Meeting of the National Forum of Secretaries of the Environment of Brazilian Capitals (CB27) took place on the afternoon of this Wednesday (12). Promoted as a preliminary action of the 2nd ICLEI Northeast Regional Meeting, the session of activities aimed to contribute to inspiring and bringing inputs to the management of Brazilian capitals through the discussion of regional approaches to be addressed to the new Federal Government.

Climate change is one of the main challenges facing humanity in this century, and cities play a leading role in implementing solutions within their territories. Bringing together local representatives from approximately a quarter of the Brazilian population, the B27 Forum enables important pathways for the transformation of urban spaces.

The Forum Meeting was moderated by the Institutional Relations Coordinator of ICLEI Brazil, Ana Wernke, the Secretary of Environment and Urban Planning of Natal and Northeast Regional Coordinator of the CB27 Forum, Thiago Mesquita, and the Secretary of Environment of João Pessoa and National Coordinator of the CB27 Forum, Welison Araújo.

The meeting sought to answer some "guiding questions of the Assembly" in order to assist in building dialogue and developing solutions. Among these were: What are the strategic agendas and demands of the Northeast region? What do we want from the new federal government? How can we cooperate more effectively to address these agendas and demands? Which regional spaces can we leverage to influence the previously identified agendas and demands? And how can we achieve greater representation/participation in them? Following this, the floor was opened for debate.

One of the specific objectives for 2023 of CB27 is to increase the involvement of the National and Regional Coordination bodies in strategic decisions and tasks. Therefore, the Northeast Regional Meeting took place in Natal, intersecting with the 2nd Northeast ICLEI Regional Meeting and the 1st Potiguar Climate Conference.

Also participating in the meeting were the Secretary of the Environment of Boa Vista, Alexandre dos Santos; the coordinator of the 2030 Agenda of Teresina, Leonardo Madeira; the Director of Resilience of Salvador, Larissa Brandão; the Deputy Secretary of Planning of Semurb Natal, Eudja Mafaldo; and the Coordinator of Low Carbon and Resilience of ICLEI, Keila Ferreira.