The Minister of Environment, Izabella Teixeira, said yesterday that the role of Brazil in the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, Rio+20, will be strategic in the search for a consensus among participating countries.

“In the conference, Brazil has a unique opportunity to seek, in its role as host, convergence and dialogue,” stated during the participation in the meeting Federal Dialogues Towards Rio+20, in Brasilia. “The debate that we place on the table is structuring about the strategic role of the environmental issues in development options. But this role must be built with the society as well,” warned the Minister.

According to Izabella, it is necessary to discuss the concept of sustainable cities for each regional reality. “Discussing this subject in Acre is different from discussing in the Pantanal or in the Northeast. The environmental governance model in Brazil needs to be modernized, updated,” she pointed out. The Federal Dialogues Towards Rio+20 are intended to broaden the debate with States and municipalities for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development.