Climate Forum, 2019 - Governors for Climate event, on the 25th of April, 2019, brought together six governors who addressed it by video: João Dória, São Paulo; Eduardo Leite, Minas Gerais; Paulo Câmara, Pernambuco; Elder Barbalho, Pará; Romeu Zema, Minas Gerais and Renato Casagrande Espírito Santo who was also present at the event. 12 Brazilian States were also represented by the state commissioners, in charge of climate change regional policies,  São Paulo, Rio Grande do Sul, Paraná, Brasília, Rio de Janeiro, Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, Rio Grande do Norte, Pernambuco, Pará, Amazonas and Mato Grosso do Sul. It was the first big pro climate action and pro Paris Agreement statement by subnational governments in the context of climate change denialism coming from the federal government an sporadic hints by president Bolsonaro against the Paris Agreement. 

The purpose of the Climate Forum 2019  was to discuss the role of subnational climate action and assess where we stand - both globally and nationally - regarding adaptation and mitigation of Climate Change at the beginning of 2019.Brazil has played an important role since the 1992 Summit, in Rio, but now faces serious new challenges with climate denialists or sceptics in key positions in the federal government and the need to mobilize the subnational governments, civil society and the private sector to resist the dismantling of thirty years of environmental and climate change governance. 

An important topic of discussion was on how to establish more direct international financing channels for adaptation and mitigation for projects coming  from the Brazilian states. The climate issue is not only environmental, it is a huge economic, social and public health risk but, and, on the other hand, it offers the opportunity of inserting  Brazilian states - in a competitive way – the decarbonizing economic transition, with both mitigation and adaptation projects  with a strong social and economic developments: huge scale reforestation and afforestation, low carbon agriculture, wind, solar, biomass for which Brazil’s potential is very significant.