" ...interrupt five centuries of extractivism and environmental destruction to position Brazil at the forefront of sustainable development!" |
However, to realize this scenario, the same studies estimate that Brazil needs additional investments in the range of $130 to $160 billion per year over the next decade. The investments should occur mainly in infrastructure to promote adaptations, produce energy, enhance industrialization, and improve mobility.
Minister Haddad praised Brazil's ability to mobilize investment and create sustainable infrastructure through public investments. He cited national examples that make the country "a giant in renewable energy," highlighting the network of hydroelectric plants, the unified electrical system, ethanol production, and the role of Petrobras and other leading national companies in the research and development of biofuels.
Citing examples of implementation measures, the minister referred to the creation of a regulated carbon market, the issuance of sustainable sovereign bonds, the definition of a national taxonomy focused on sustainability, and the revision of the Climate Fund. The initiatives aim to create conditions for a new wave of investments with the goal of concentrating industrial technologies, modernizing science, and qualifying the workforce nationally.
Advancements.
"The Ecological Transformation Plan that I have the honor to present to you today aims to unite forces around a historic goal: to interrupt five centuries of extractivism and environmental destruction to position Brazil at the forefront of sustainable development," declared Minister Haddad.
Haddad announced advancements in key areas for the ecological transformation of the Brazilian economy, achieved by the current administration since the minister attended the COP in Egypt last year. One of them was the nearly 50% reduction in deforestation in the Amazon due to the reactivation of prevention and control actions in the biome.
The minister listed the recently approved Bills on green hydrogen and offshore wind energy generation by the National Congress as crucial sectors for the energy transition that hold enormous potential for the country. Brazil also revised the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to achieve a 53% reduction in emission levels compared to the year 2005, a climate goal more ambitious than that of many developed countries.
"The Ecological Transformation Plan is an evolutionary process, just like the challenge of climate change. It will seek to adapt to new paradigms and develop public policies to address not only past problems but also those of the future," added Haddad, who classified the plan as a realistic yet ambitious model for the reinvention of Brazil.
Joint Statement by Brazil and UAE on COP28 to COP30 Nature-Climate Partnership.
At the COP28 World Climate Action Summit, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil and President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates announced a bilateral partnership to strengthen dual nature and climate action between COP28 and COP30.
They underscored their shared commitment to address the interlinked challenges of climate change and biodiversity and ecosystem loss, emphasizing the urgency and complementarity of implementing the UN Convention on Climate Change, its Paris Agreement, the Convention on Biological Diversity and its Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
The Presidents also highlighted that the partnership will focus on enhancing local livelihoods and supporting the development goals of indigenous and traditional peoples.
The cooperation builds on the UAE and Brazil’s Memorandum of Understanding signed in April 2023 and will include several priorities, such as:
- Tropical and mangrove forest protection, conservation, and restoration;
- Scaling innovative financial mechanisms for nature, including the new Tropical Forest Forever mechanism to finance standing forest;
- Finance and policy for local and indigenous communities, women, and youth related to climate and nature action;
- Global synergies between national strategies under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
Both countries also welcomed the opportunity to work closely in support of Brazil’s G20 Presidency in 2024, as well the incoming presidencies of UNFCCC COP29 and CBD COP16.
Brazil seeks to advance Mission 1.5 at COP28.
The speakers included the head of delegation and Minister for the Indigenous Peoples, Sonia Guajajara; the Deputy Minister of Environment and Climate Change, João Paulo Capobianco; the Secretary for Climate, Energy and Environment of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, André Corrêa do Lago; and the National Secretary for Climate Change at the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, Ana Toni.
Minister Guajajara said that she was proud to head Brazil’s delegation during COP28 thematic day of the indigenous peoples. COP28 is being attended by more indigenous people than ever before. She said that indigenous peoples are a part of the solution of the climate crisis, adding that “we are 5% of the world’s population but are stewards of 82% of the biodiversity of the planet”.
João Paulo Capobianco referred to Brazil’s success in reducing deforestation by 49% between January and October 2023, avoiding 250m tonnes of emissions – a major achievement that was labelled by the Prime-Minister of Norway as “the most important climate news of the year” – and recalled that Brazil had presented the initiative “Tropical Forests Forever Facility”.
The chief negotiator of the Delegation, Ambassador André Corrêa do Lago, stressed the sense of urgency that needs to inspire the fight against climate change, which is why Brazil proposed “Mission 1.5”. At the time of the Paris Agreement, science had not yet fully explained the consequences of a 1.5oC warming – but now that they are clear, it is clear that we should forge a sense of purpose to cap warming at that level.
“The most consequential outcome of COP28 will be the Global Stocktake, which must be based on science and on equity”, Corrêa do Lago explained. “It will inform countries as they discuss climate finance in COP29 and develop the second round of NDCs, to be submitted by 2025, at COP30. The path from Dubai to Belém will be decisive for humanity’s success in fighting climate change,” he added.
The questions from the media covered a variety of issues, including fossil fuels. The delegation explained that Brazil benefits from a variety of transition options, including biofuels and green hydrogen. Recalling the statement delivered by the BASIC group (Brazil, South Africa, India and China) at the opening session, the delegation stressed that developed countries should take the lead in phasing-out fossil fuel production and consumption, in an accelerated manner.
Regarding the relationship between trade and environment, the speakers explained that trends towards unilateralism, protectionism and fragmentation of international cooperation jeopardize trust and, consequently, ambitious climate action. Both the Rio 1992 Declaration and UNFCCC state that trade policy measures for environmental purposes should not constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination or a disguised restriction on international trade, which is why Brazil is raising these issues both here at COP28 and at the World Trade Organization.
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