John Kerry, the United States special envoy for COP27, told BBC News Brasil that he is “excited” to meet with Brazil’s new president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who is also in Sharm El this Tuesday (15) afternoon. -Sheikh, Egypt will attend the United Nations Climate Change Summit.
Kerry said she expected to meet with Lula to define future US aid for conservation actions in the Amazon, but said she was “confident” that the future president would support “complete change” in Brazilian environmental policy.
During Jair Bolsonaro’s tenure, the Amazon Fund, with nearly US$1 billion donated by Norway and Germany, was paralyzed by these countries’ distrust of Brazil’s current environmental policy. Other wealthy countries, such as the United States and the European Union, have also paused cooperation talks for forest protection in the face of record levels of deforestation over the past three years.
“I’m excited to meet him. a complete turnaround.”
We are excited to work with him and are confident we will do everything we can (to protect Amazon).
During COP27, Kerry met with elected federal lawmaker Marina Silva, who is one of the most likely to take on the Ministry of the Environment. In an interview with BBC News Brasil, he said he had asked representatives from the US and other wealthy countries such as Canada, Germany and Norway to contribute financially to the Amazon Fund.
“All the leaders I spoke to expressed their interest in increasing cooperation with Brazil. We are the largest country in Latin America. We have an important role in geopolitics and the world is aware of it. You know that we are going through an economic, social and political crisis, and in these four years we are going to Brazil. They’re very supportive of helping out,” he said.
According to him, “all of Brazil’s partners are eager to cooperate again”.
“In my conversations with Germany, the UK, Canada, Norway, in short, all the partners have signaled and understood that Brazil is the country that can change the paradigm, because it has the best conditions to do it. To see Brazil set an example.”
Representatives of nearly 200 countries are meeting in Egypt to discuss new commitments that will ensure the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C.
At last year’s COP26 summit, Brazil signed a key agreement on the protection of forests that sets the goal of zero deforestation in the world by 2030. firefighting, afforestation and protection of indigenous areas. President Jair Bolsonaro did not attend, and negotiations proceeded with the participation of Itamaraty diplomats.
But indications show Brazil is failing its promises and commitments to control CO2 emissions. The rate of deforestation recorded in the Amazon in 2021 was the highest in 15 years, and Brazil’s carbon dioxide emissions last year were the highest in 16 years.
Bolsonaro once again chose not to participate in COP27. The government is represented by Environment Minister Joaquim Leite.
However, international attention is focused on Lula and his ministers, as evidenced by the agenda for the key bilateral meetings that Marina Silva and its president-elect will hold at COP27 this week.
source: Noticias
