Development Bank considers that the gaucho case has become emblematic of the need for climate adaptation in Brazil
Investments in resilience infrastructure in cities in Rio Grande do Sul, a state devastated by thunderstorms in April and May 2024, can serve as a model for other regions of the country to become less vulnerable to climate disasters.
The assessment is from (National Bank for Economic and Social Development), which has partnered with the government of Rio Grande do Sul to create (resilience, innovation and works for the future of Rio Grande do Sul), focused on prevention and adaptation against extreme climate events.
April and May thunderstorms resulted in more than 180 dead, affected millions of people and left neighborhoods of almost all cities in Rio Grande do Sul. The governor (PSDB) even classified the tragedy as “Biggest disaster in state history”.
The assessment that investments in prevention and resilience developed by the Rios Project should serve as an example for other states is the Digital Credit Director for MPMES (micro, small and medium enterprises) of BNDES ,.
The director of the Federal Development Bank linked to (Ministry of Development, Industry, Commerce and Services) considers that Rio Grande do Sul has become an emblematic case of need for climate adaptation in Brazil because of the magnitude of the impacts suffered.
The director believes that the project Rios will serve as learning to elaborate resilience strategies.
“The experience gained in the structuring of climate governance, territorial planning and resilient infrastructure can be replicated in states and municipalities with similar challenges. Thus, BNDES intends to transform Rio Grande do Sul learning into a scalable model of public policies and climate investments for Brazil.”he said in an interview with Brazil agency.
Financial aid
In 2024, BNDES, with emergency actions, was a relevant financial aid provider for Rio Grande do Sul companies, totaling R $ 28 billion to 469 of the state’s 497 municipalities.
Within this amount are R $ 19.4 billion in more than 8,000 credit operations for entrepreneurs, companies, cooperatives and rural producers from Rio Grande do Sul, 59% of this amount for micro, small and medium enterprises.
Another form of emergency aid was the suspension of the requirement of payment of R $ 5.3 billion in installments to more than 72,000 loan contracts.
The Bank of Development also granted R $ 4.2 billion in guarantees to about 5,000 micro, small and medium -sized financing operations with other financial institutions.
Resilience
Once the emergency aid was launched, Maria Fernanda Ramos Coelho stated that the bank’s focus is now on supporting public entities in preventing and adapting to extreme climate events, “In order to strengthen the governance for risk management and prioritization of resilient infrastructure investments”and the Rios project fits this strategic role.
According to the director, the project Rios is unprecedented in Brazil, “Both because of the geographical scope – as well as the entire watershed of Guaíba, epicenter of the catastrophe – as well as the ambition to prepare the way to reduce or even eliminate impacts from future climate events on the population.”. She mentioned that the region includes 252 highly vulnerable municipalities.
The director described that the project foresees diagnoses, modeling and evaluation of climate risk, technology use and advanced methodologies for territorial planning and the development of a portfolio of resilient infrastructure projects.
With information from.
