Alfredo Sirkis facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Alfredo Sirkis
Federal Deputy for Rio de Janeiro
In office 1 January 2011 – 31 January 2014
Personal details
Born	Alfredo Hélio Syrkis 8 December 1950 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Died	10 July 2020 (aged 69) Nova Iguacu, Brazil
Occupation	Journalist and writer

Alfredo Hélio Syrkis (born 8 December 1950 – died 10 July 2020) was a Brazilian writer, journalist, and politician. He was known for his work in protecting the environment and managing cities. Alfredo Sirkis won the important Jabuti Award for his writing in 1981. He also served as a member of the Brazilian parliament.

Sirkis was a leader in discussions about climate change. He was the head of the Joint Climate Change Congressional Commission. He also helped lead the Brazilian Forum for Climate Change. This group worked with the government, businesses, and regular people to fight climate change. He attended many big international meetings about climate change, like the ones in Paris and Copenhagen. He helped create ideas like "carbon positive pricing" to encourage actions that reduce pollution.

What did Alfredo Sirkis write?

Alfredo Sirkis wrote ten books. Two of his books, Os Carbonários and Roleta Chilena, became very popular in Brazil. Os Carbonários won Brazil's top literary prize, the Prêmio Jabuti, in 1981.

His book Descarbonário talks about climate change and his 30 years of working on this issue. An English version, Decarbonizer, was also planned.

Sirkis also wrote for major Brazilian newspapers. These included O Globo, Folha de São Paulo, and O Estado de São Paulo. He also wrote stories for TV and movies.

How did Sirkis work as a journalist?

Alfredo Sirkis started working as a journalist while he was living outside Brazil. He wrote for French newspapers like Libération and Le Monde Diplomatique. He also worked for newspapers in Portugal.

When he returned to Brazil, he continued his journalism career. He worked for popular magazines like Veja and Istoé.

What was his work in Rio de Janeiro?

Alfredo Sirkis was elected four times to the City Council of Rio de Janeiro. He served as a councilman in 1988, 1992, 1996, and 2008.

He also held important roles in the city government. From 1993 to 1996, he was Rio's Commissioner for the Environment. From 2001 to 2006, he was the Commissioner for Urban Management. During this time, he also led the Pereira Passos Municipal Urban Planning Institute (IPP).

What did he do as a city councilman?

As a city councilman, Alfredo Sirkis was very active. He helped create special protected areas for the environment. These included areas like Prainha and Bosque da Freguesia.

He also helped write the environmental parts of the city's main laws. He created the "Sirkis Law." This law offered tax benefits for projects that helped the environment. This law helped organize the Global Forum 9. This was a big event for regular people during the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio.

What did he do for the environment in Rio?

As Rio's environment commissioner, Sirkis achieved many things. He helped build the largest network of bike paths in Brazil. He also started projects to plant trees in 47 hillside favelas (shanty towns).

He helped create an Environmental Protection Group within the city's police force. He also solved long-standing disagreements about building projects. This led to new public parks being created. He also set up councils to manage water and the city's environment. These councils included people from the public and private sectors.

Sirkis represented Rio de Janeiro at many international city conferences. He was also a leader in groups like ICLEI and Metropolis. These groups help cities around the world work together on environmental issues.

What was his role in urban planning?

As Commissioner for Urban Management and President of the IPP, Sirkis led many projects. His team planned 18 key projects to improve the Port Area of Rio.

He helped rebuild the Circo Voador, a famous cultural center. He also helped build the Cidade do Samba, a place for samba schools. He created rules to protect neighborhoods like Jardim Botânico and Botafogo. He also helped make rules for legal construction in 61 favelas. This helped these communities become more integrated into the city.

How did Alfredo Sirkis become a political activist?

Alfredo Sirkis became involved in politics during the military rule in Brazil (1964–1985). In 1968, he became a leader of the high school student movement in Rio.

In the early 1970s, he joined a group that fought against the military government. He had to leave Brazil and lived in France, Chile, Argentina, and Portugal from 1971 to 1979. He was in Chile during the 1973 coup. He worked as a journalist during his time abroad.

After returning to Brazil in 1979, he continued his activism. He helped organize environmental groups in the 1980s. These groups worked to protect the Amazon rainforest and solve city environmental problems. He worked closely with Chico Mendes, a famous rubber tapper leader. Sirkis helped organize a big protest to "Save the Amazonia" just before Mendes was murdered in 1988.

Sirkis was one of the people who started the Brazilian Green Party in 1986. He was its national president from 1991 to 1999. In 1998, he ran for president of Brazil as the Green Party candidate. He later managed Marina Silva's presidential campaign in 2009 and 2010. He left the Green Party in 2013 and stopped being involved in party politics.

What was his work with NGOs?

Alfredo Sirkis helped organize the "Hiroshima Never More" event in 1982. He was also the executive vice-president of the Ondazul Foundation from 1997 to 2000. The famous musician Gilberto Gil was the president of this foundation.

He organized projects like Mangue Vivo, which focused on reforestation. He also started "Recycling and Culture," which made furniture from plastic bottles.

In 2015, he started the Brazil Climate Center. This is a "think tank" that studies climate issues. It is also the Brazilian part of former American Vice-President Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project.

As a member of civil society, he led the Brazilian Forum for Climate Change. This forum was chaired by the President of Brazil and included many people. It had about one hundred participants from government, NGOs, businesses, and universities.

When did Alfredo Sirkis die?

Alfredo Sirkis died in a car accident on 10 July 2020. He was 69 years old.

See also

In Spanish: Alfredo Sirkis para niños