This is the third year that Época Magazine has published a list of the 100 most influential personalities in Brazil. They are people who have stood out because of their power, their talent, their achievements or their moral example. Tasso’s work has been fundamental as a basis for the Brazilian Government’s commitment to targets for the reduction of CO2 emissions at COP 15.

More than 2,000 people, including 1,500 recyclers from around the world and the host country's president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, attended the Expocatadores event held in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on October 28-30.

We are pleased to share with you our 2008 Annual Report. Inside you will learn about a number of activities that we are supporting to move beyond borders and transform the ideas of sustainability, solidarity and equity into real change for real people. The report includes descriptions of a sample of actions AVINA and its partners are involved in as we seek a more prosperous and just Latin America. In one example the protagonists are young people who come together to influence the future of their societies in another the protagonists are cities themselves in various countries whose citizens decide to take responsibility for improving livelihoods through new forms of participation while in the Amazon we meet the people who organize to protect the vast endangered landscape elsewhere we look at private enterprise that aspires to move beyond economic performance seeking also to reach social and environmental performance goals. This year we have decided to publish our report exclusively in a digital format as part of our pursuit of the most responsible and sustainable standards. We hope that you find it informative and inspiring.