IDB Invest highlights importance of creating opportunities for Amazon population

Manaus (Brazil), Jun 11 (EFE).- Sustainability Week, organized by IDB Invest, the private arm of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), kicked off Tuesday in the Brazilian city of Manaus with a focus on the creation of economic opportunities as an instrument to preserve biodiversity.

IDB Invest CEO James Scriven warned during the opening of the three-day event about the enormity of the environmental challenges facing Latin America and, in particular, the Amazon region, which last year recorded the worst drought in history.

SHOT LIST: FOOTAGE OF THE FIRST DAY OF IDB SUSTAINABILITY WEEK AND OF JAMES SCRIVEN, CEO OF BID INVEST, AND WILSON LIMA, GOVERNOR OF THE BRAZILIAN STATE OF AMAZONAS.

JAMES SCRIVEN, IDB INVEST CEO: “Increasingly frequent and severe weather events are already affecting us; CO2 emissions have increased, we have higher levels of food insecurity, and the public health system is at the worst moment we have ever experienced. Last year, the Amazon rainforest experienced the worst drought in history, which is a true sign that the Amazon is facing a critical moment.”

"We have an impact to make, a movement to grow. We are here to drive sustainability and protect the forest and its diversity."

“Rainforest preservation combined with opportunities for the 50 million people living in the Amazon basin.”

WILSON LIMA, GOVERNOR OF THE BRAZILIAN STATE OF AMAZONAS: "A citizen who lives in the interior of the jungle and preserves nature also needs the minimum to live: drinking water, health, education, communication and opportunities. This is about generating jobs and income. And there is no way we can move forward if we do not strengthen economic activities. There is no sustainability project that works if we do not invest in the private sector and in the strengthening of productive chains.”