The signing of the document that made the municipality of Curvelo an associate of the ICLEI network took place on the third day of the 1st ICLEI Minas Gerais Regional Congress, at the headquarters of the Dom Cabral Foundation, in Nova Lima, on June 3rd.  

ICLEI South America was represented by Executive Secretary Rodrigo Perpétuo, and Tatiana Mello, Municipal Secretary of Administration of Curvelo, represented the city's mayor, Luiz Paulo Glória Guimarães. According to her, Curvelo's entry into the ICLEI Network is a way to take a step forward towards sustainability projects.

The municipality of Curvelo is part of the central region of Minas Gerais and the upper-middle São Francisco microregion. This geographical region has 11 municipalities, and Curvelo stands out as the largest city in terms of population and geographic area. The municipality's population is predominantly urban, with approximately 101,300 residents in rural areas. Curvelo has demonstrated a concern for the well-being of municipalities, as evidenced by data released by the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics): the municipality registered an increase of 551,300 in the HDI (Human Development Index) in the last two decades, a level above both the national average growth (471,300) and the state average (521,300). Among the various indicators considered, those that showed the greatest gains in recent years were longevity/life expectancy in the health dimension, and years of schooling and illiteracy in the education dimension.

Furthermore, according to the latest Census published (2010), Curvelo has 34.1% of the population with a nominal monthly per capita income of up to 1/2 the minimum wage, indicating the lowest poverty rate observed among the other municipalities in the region. 

In this way, the service sector becomes fundamentally important to the local economy, and corroborates one of the premises of this administration: attracting new businesses and expanding existing ones. A facilitating factor is Curvelo's location in the central region of the state, through which one of Brazil's main road axes passes: the BR-040, which connects Brasília to Rio de Janeiro. The municipal seat is located on the banks of the federal highways BR-135 and BR-259, which connect to the BR-040.

“Curvelo has emerged on the Minas Gerais scene with the installation of the largest animal feed factory in Latin America, an investment by CCPR, and with the arrival of the Stellantis group, which is building its automotive testing laboratory complex in the city. Our membership in ICLEI elevates the city to another level: it brings us international visibility. We hope to grow with the network, showing that job and income generation and the preservation of natural resources are more than compatible, they are desirable and necessary,” stated the mayor.

“Our enthusiasm for being part of ICLEI and having access to training and experience exchanges with cities around the world is proportional to our commitment to bringing the theme of urban sustainability to the center of the process of building, implementing, and monitoring municipal public policies,” reinforced Tatiana, who went further, saying that the first action after joining ICLEI will be to contract the Institution to prepare the municipality's Compact Climate Compliance study. “This document will assist us in the process of adapting to and mitigating climate change,” concluded Tatiana.