Itaipu Binacional and the Ministry of the Environment sign a technical cooperation agreement at COP 30

Proposal aims to expand public and institutional policies focused on education and socioenvironmental cooperation

Itaipu and the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MMA) formalized on Thursday afternoon (13^th), at the Binational’s pavilion at COP 30, the signing of a Technical Cooperation Agreement (TCA). The proposal aims to expand public and institutional policies focused on education and socioenvironmental cooperation, as well as strengthen initiatives that promote sustainability and address the challenges of the climate crisis.

Under the agreement, Itaipu and MMA, through the Department of Environmental Education and Citizenship (DEA/MMA), commit to carrying out joint actions such as supporting the creation and strengthening of environmental education centers in different regions of Brazil and consolidating the 21 Socioenvironmental Cooperation Centers in Paraná and southern Mato Grosso do Sul, coordinated by Itaipu.

The agreement seeks to scale up existing initiatives by promoting the exchange of experiences, sharing of methodologies, and development of socioenvironmental communication campaigns. In addition, it aims to encourage the inclusion of new territories in the concept, expanding citizen participation and strengthening a culture of sustainability.

For the Brazilian director-general of Itaipu, Enio Verri, the signing strengthens the relationship between the institutions in a key area for combating climate change: environmental education. “Itaipu is the government’s spokesperson in its territory and has a history, since President Lula’s first term, of projects with the Ministry of the Environment. This cooperation is now important to transform environmental education into a major project of political construction,” he emphasized.

“Itaipu is a company that long ago understood that energy production depends on society’s participation in protecting and caring for its reservoir. We hope that this partnership will bear fruit in the formation of citizens within a chain of awareness and belonging,” highlighted MMA’s Executive Secretary, João Paulo Capobianco.

The Binational brings to this agreement its well-established experience in programs such as Cultivating Good Water, which trained environmental educators and municipal management committees. Now, under the Itaipu More than Energy strategy, the company updates this agenda by supporting regional hubs that promote democratic management and solutions to the climate crisis.

According to Marcos Sorrentino, director of the Department of Environmental Education and Citizenship at MMA, the collaboration should allow Itaipu’s strategies to be replicated. “We need cooperation based on what each institution does best, and Itaipu has developed a fundamental program, which is the cooperation hubs. We want the national policy to strengthen actions like those of Itaipu,” he said. The event was attended by Itaipu’s Paraguayan director-general, Justo Zacarias; the Brazilian executive technical director, Renato Sacramento; the Paraguayan coordination director, Julio Paredes Duarte; and climate scientist Carlos Nobre.