Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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This article first appeared in Forum, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on November 1, 2021 - November 7, 2021

Brazil is one of 194 countries that are signatories to the Climate Agreement — a treaty under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which governs the transition towards a carbon-neutral economy based on sustainable development, contributing to the eradication of poverty and preserving world food production.

In this context, Brazil faces three great challenges: (1) to reduce its total greenhouse gas emissions by 37% by 2025, 43% by 2030, and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050; (2) to generate employment and income in this new green economy; and (3) at the same time, to provide the world with large quantities of food in a safe, affordable, and sustainable way.

We recognise the need for the global goal of emissions neutrality to be achieved as soon as possible. However, mitigation of emissions from some activities is either economically unfeasible or physically impossible in the short run. Therefore, immediate and rampant reductions in some sectors could make energy more expensive and create shortages, thereby rendering some services, products, and especially food more expensive around the world.

We also recognise that emerging countries face greater challenges in meeting their targets, and that developed countries must assist emerging countries in their mitigation and adaptation strategies, plans, and actions by effectively taking the lead in transferring low-emission technologies and providing urgent and consistent climate finance.

An important consensus among the countries participating in the Climate Agreement is the “common but differentiated responsibilities”. This means that each nation has its own particularities regarding historical emissions and economic development. Imposing equal control of emission reduction targets and deadlines on all parties would be unfair.

Common responsibilities: all countries must reduce emissions with the goal of achieving climate neutrality.

Differentiated responsibilities: countries that have industrialised based on fossil fuels have a differentiated responsibility compared to countries that have not — either because the latter are poorly industrialised or because they have never emitted large amounts of greenhouse gases and have yet to attain a level of economic development that ensures quality of life for their population.

In the Conference of the Parties, the parties are the countries; in Brazil, the parties are the regions: those that emit less gases are less developed and lack access to the basics, in contrast to the rich, industrialised regions that are, historically and currently, major emitters. It is up to the more developed places to encourage this policy through innovative technologies, low-emission investments, and financial resources aimed at reducing the environmental impact in less developed places.

The Brazilian federal government will strive during the COP26 climate negotiations in Glasgow to create positive incentives for a transition to an emission-neutral economy by 2050, taking into consideration the needs of each Brazilian region and to ensuring opportunities for economic development and a better quality of life for its people, especially the poorest ones, who often live in areas with a larger proportion of preserved native vegetation. We want to reach a consensus on climate policies that is good for Brazil, for Brazilians and, consequently, for the planet.


Joaquim Leite is Brazil's environment minister

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