It is not for lack of money that the recovery of areas affected by the historic rains of May 2024 in Rio Grande do Sul is still blocked. Valor highlights that, despite the federal government having made R$6.5 billion available to the municipalities affected by the climate disaster in RS, no amount has been disbursed so far. The reason? Projects are missing.
Lack of projects holds back resources for preventing climate disasters in RS
It is not for lack of money that the recovery of areas affected by the historic rains of May 2024 in Rio Grande do Sul is still blocked. Valor highlights that, despite the federal government having made R$6.5 billion available to the...
"There are resources in the Budget, there are financial resources. I need the actors [state and municipalities] to make these works happen, so that we are better prepared for extreme events, which are increasingly impactful", stated the Minister of Cities, Vladimir Lima.
- The lack of projects is not limited to the Gaucho case.
- The 2025 Union Budget allocated R$532 million to urban drainage and slope containment works across the country.
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"There are resources in the Budget, there are financial resources. I need the actors [state and municipalities] to make these works happen, so that we are better prepared for extreme events, which are increasingly impactful", stated the Minister of Cities, Vladimir Lima.
The lack of projects is not limited to the Gaucho case. The 2025 Union Budget allocated R$532 million to urban drainage and slope containment works across the country. Of this total, a measly R$1.36 million was paid for service delivery, completion of works or stages thereof.
The obstacles are not new. Many municipalities do not have the technical conditions to prepare a project in accordance with the requirements of Caixa, the resource manager. The process is complex and time-consuming and, therefore, it is not uncommon for projects to be challenged in court. In the case of RS, the magnitude of the 2024 disaster is also a problem for planning works.
“These are large-scale and highly complex engineering works, in extremely urbanized areas that had to be resized after what happened in 2024”, explained Pedro Capeluppi, secretary of Reconstrução Gaúcha. “The fact of having the resource there is very positive, but we have to deal with people’s expectations, of thinking that, if you have money, you just need to press a button and the work will be carried out.”
The anxiety about the slowness of works in RS is justified by the current situation, in which the state is facing the effects of an already strong El Niño, with the possibility of new climate disasters as the phenomenon tends to gain even more strength. Many gauchos have not yet rebuilt their lives after the devastation two years ago and fear that new rains could further intensify this suffering.
"The majority of people still suffer the mental health consequences of the flood. They lost absolutely everything. Unable to rebuild their homes, the majority went into a deep depression," Luís Rogério Machado, “Jamaika”, community leader of Sarandi, in Porto Alegre, told the Guardian.
"Our house was completely submerged. We lost everything," said Suelen Telles, teacher and resident of Sarandi. "We've already returned home, but we're terrified of losing everything again. Everyone on our street is scared. Once again, what will become of us?"
Valor highlighted the measures taken by the RS government to prevent new climate disasters. The state plans to invest R$15 billion in resilience, with the expansion of monitoring systems and the relocation of families in risk areas. Another concern, especially with the current El Niño, is rural production, which is expected to suffer a shock due to intense rains between September and December, precisely in an important window for planting.
An important initiative to increase resilience is the RioS project – Resilience, Innovation and Works for the Future of RS, designed by the Rio Grande do Sul government in partnership with BNDES and with the participation of companies such as Deloitte and Climatempo. According to Valor, the project intends to carry out a diagnosis of vulnerabilities, with the aim of designing solutions to increase climate resilience.