- ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE
- SUSTAINABLE INFRASTRUCTURE
Brazil
GIZ local staff
National employees: 262
International employees: 42
Integrated experts: 1
(as at: 31.12.2023)
Brazil and Germany have been pursuing joint projects in the area of sustainable development since 1962. The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH has been working in Brazil since 1993 and maintains a country office in the capital, Brasília.
Brazil has a crucial role to play in global climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation. The country is home to around 20 per cent of the planet’s animal and plant species and its tropical rainforests store huge amounts of greenhouse gases. However, the Amazon, Cerrado savannah and Atlantic Forest areas are under pressure. Illegal mining, livestock farming and large-scale monocultures are destroying extensive forest areas.
Brazil gets much of its energy from hydropower plants. The country has also significantly expanded its wind and solar power capacity over the past 10 years and wants to exploit the considerable potential of these renewable energy sources to even greater effect in the future.
85 per cent of Brazil’s population live in cities, which serve as both the backdrop and key players for many social and environmental challenges. They are the drivers of economic growth, but also consume a large part of the natural resources and emit the most greenhouse gases.
In Brazil, GIZ works primarily on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV), the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) and the German Federal Foreign Office. The priority areas of cooperation are:
- Conservation and sustainable use of tropical forests
- Just transition in the renewable energy and urban sectors
To improve tropical forest conservation, GIZ is helping the country to use this biome more sustainably and strengthen controls. Particular attention is paid to sections of the population that rely on tropical forests for their livelihoods, as they contribute to the balanced use of the natural resources. In addition, GIZ is encouraging Brazilian Government agencies to better protect conservation areas and the rights of indigenous peoples.
GIZ is working to further expand the use of renewable energy in Brazil and increase energy efficiency. Thanks to GIZ’s support, wind and solar power already occupy an important place in Brazil's energy supply. At the same time, and with GIZ’s assistance, the country is becoming a producer and supplier of green hydrogen. The promotion of innovative technology, knowledge sharing and improved technical and vocational education and training for young people are also part of the work on site.
In addition, GIZ is fostering sustainable, climate-friendly and inclusive urban development by collating and integrating solutions for housing, mobility, waste management and public spaces. It focuses on disadvantaged districts and their communities in their capacity as agents and places of innovation in the face of change.
