AMAZ defends bioeconomy as a way to tackle inequalities and climate emergencies at the 13th GIFE Congress

Text: Maxi Media and GIFE Disclosure

Photo: GIFE Disclosure

The AMAZ Impact Accelerator coordinated by Idesam will be at the 13th Congress of the Group of Institutes, Foundations and Companies (GIFE), the main event on philanthropy in Latin America, which this year welcomes 185 speakers, experts and leaders from the sector, civil society organizations and government representatives in more than 30 activities.  

The program starts this Wednesday (7) and runs until Friday (9) with the theme “Deconcentrate: power, knowledge and wealth”. 

Gabriela Santos, operations leader, will be AMAZ’s representative at the event. She will contribute to the panel “The Value of Standing Forests: Bioeconomy and a New Development Paradigm for People, Climate and Nature”, which will take place on Friday, the 9th, from 9 am to 10:30 am. 

“The Bioeconomy agenda is still emerging in the [philanthropy] sector. In the year of COP30 [30th United Nations Climate Change Conference], where all eyes are on the Amazon, our participation is of great importance to, first of all, occupy these spaces, bringing light to the climate emergency beyond adaptation actions, but as a call for mitigation. What can we do today to support and strengthen organizations that are already working in territories essential to the maintenance of our environmental, social and cultural riches in the Amazon”, explains the operations leader at Amaz. 

The panel was jointly designed by the Arapyaú Institute and the Climate and Society Institute (iCS), in order to convey the reality of the Amazon territory and how it is possible to engage beyond the South-Southeast axis. 

Other experts who work in the region will also be present: Cleiciane Marques, a riverside resident, mobilizer of the Chestnut Collective and executive analyst of the Iratapuru Fund; Braulina Baniwa, indigenous researcher of sociobioeconomy in the Amazon and co-author of the publication “Indigenous bioeconomy: ancestral knowledge and social technologies”; Hélia Félix, farmer and technical manager of the Cacauway chocolate factory; and Débora Passos, manager of Project Management and Strategic Planning at the Arapyaú Institute. 

Schedule  

During the three days, the program will include debates, panels and exchanges of experiences. Among the topics covered are: bioeconomy and traditional communities, tax reform and ISP, collaborative philanthropy and food systems, plural education, ethical use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the power of Big Tech and the leading role of youth.  

One of the main personalities invited to the Congress, activist, filmmaker and philanthropist Abigail Disney spoke at the opening plenary “International situation and Brazilian context – after all, what kind of country do we want?”. At the age of 64, Abigail inherited a fortune of 10 million dollars left by her great-uncle Walt Disney at the age of 21. It is estimated that, of her current wealth of around 500 million dollars, she has donated more than 70 million dollars to causes related to vulnerable women.  

Highlighting the importance of women in society and in philanthropy, Abigail stated that Private Social Investment can, in a structured and coordinated manner, “change the reality of a country”, together with the capillarity of government actions. She also emphasized that in order to have “deconcentration of wealth and wisdom”, power cannot be limited only to those who have resources. “What if we all choose to live with the same importance?”, she reflected.