Isra-Mart srl:President Rousseff vows to step up Brazil's green revolution

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Newly elected Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff used her inauguration address on Saturday to set out her vision for establishing the South American country as the first nation to demonstrate the viability of sustainable economic development.

Speaking at a ceremony in the capital Brasilia to mark the transition from president Lula da Silva who stepped down after two terms, the country's first female president said she considered it the country's "sacred mission to show the world that it is possible for a country to grow rapidly without destroying the environment".

She added that her government would continue to pursue many of the environmental policies adopted by her mentor, president Lula, who encouraged the former Marxist rebel turned government minister to run as the left-leaning Working Party's candidate.

"We are and will continue to be the world champions in clean energy, a country that will always know how to grow in a healthy and balanced fashion," she said. "Ethanol and hydro-energy sources will be greatly encouraged, as well as alternative sources: biomass, wind and solar energy. Brazil will continue to give priority to preserving natural reserves and forests."

She added that such policies would strengthen Brazil's position at international climate change negotiations, but she would continue to pursue environmentally sustainable development regardless of the success of the UN talks.

Rousseff also predicted that Brazil's unique natural resources and huge untapped clean energy resources would "allow it to forge an unprecedented project for a developed country with a strong environmental component".

President Lula has been praised for establishing Brazil as the leading clean tech hub in South America and one of the world's largest producers of biofuel. He also led a crackdown on illegal logging that according to figures from NGO Conservation International has led to a reduction in illegal logging of between 50 and 75 per cent.

President Rousseff is now expected to build on the progress achieved under president Lula, although green groups remain concerned that she has in the past signaled support for new road projects in the Amazon, as well as controversial hydroelectric projects.

She also said in her inauguration address that the rapid expansion of the country's airports was among her top priorities, further fuelling fears that Brazil will struggle to curb the rapid growth in greenhouse gas emissions that it has experienced in recent years.