COP27: Norway pledges to increase transfers to protect Amazon with Lula

Since 2019, when Norway and Germany clashed with the government of Jair Bolsonaro over how transfers should be managed, the Amazon Fund currently holds approximately US$540 million.

Espen Barth Eide, Norwegian Minister of Climate and Environment, told BBC News Brasil on Tuesday (15) that after President Luiz Inácio Lula took office, he must increase the money sent from the Scandinavian country to conservation projects in the Amazon. .

According to him, the Norwegian government will already start negotiating with Lula’s transition team the terms of unblocking the Amazon Fund, as well as the possibility of increasing transfers from the Nordic country for forest protection.

“We want to unlock the Amazon Fund as soon as we agree on its organizational structure. What President Lula has said in the campaign, what his team has talked to us about, and our past experience shows that it’s something. Eide, who was in Egypt for the United Nations climate change summit COP27. “We can solve it quickly,” he said.

“We’re already going to talk to Lula’s team to prepare this. And when he comes to power, he’ll have to make some decisions that we think he’ll make, and the fund will reopen quickly,” he said.

He recalled that since 2019, when Norway and Germany were in dispute with the government of Jair Bolsonaro over how transfers should be managed, there are currently approximately US$540 million in the Amazon Fund. Eide underlined that in addition to this money, other resources should be made available by the Scandinavian country from January 2023.

“This money is already there, but we are also very ready to collaborate with Brazil on other projects for Amazon. The ecosystem does not respect borders. So we are very excited to develop our relationship with Brazil, which I think will happen.”

When asked by BBC News Brasil if there was more money to be invested in the Amazon Fund, he replied:

“Yes, yes in principle. The first step is to raise money that already exists, but we want to negotiate to close any new collaborations.”

Andreas Dahi Jorgensen, director of the Norwegian government program that manages transfers from the Amazon Fund, said at an event with the governors of states that formerly hosted Amazon rainforest regions, that “the world” is with Lula in office. It needs to mobilize resources to help Brazil.

“Brazil has shown the best emissions reduction results in history under Lula’s presidency. The president-elect says he wants to repeat this achievement of enormous global significance. Therefore, the world must come together to jointly mobilize resources and tools” Jorgensen with Brazil in a way that has never been seen before,” he said.

Germany talks about unlocking before opening

Germany, which contributes less to the Amazon Fund than Norway, said it could open its share before he took office.

Jochen Flasbarth said, “The Amazon Fund works on performance. If deforestation decreases, money flows. I’ve already made it public that we need to come back with the Amazon Fund, the funding will be ready before the beginning of next year.” State Secretary of the German Ministry of Economy at an event with the governors of Brazil at COP27.

“We’re very impressed with the idea of ​​a stagnant forest economy. That’s what we want to see and support. We know that Brazil and the Amazon region need growth to improve people’s well-being, and that’s why we’re renewing it. Partnership with our Brazilian friends.”

Lula at COP27

Lula attends COP27 this Wednesday (16) in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. Its presence is one of those expected by international leaders and foreign press.

He will give a speech at around 17:00 local time. On Tuesday (15), reserved meetings are already scheduled in Egypt with US special envoys John Kerry and China’s Xie Zhen Hua.

Before meeting with Lula, John Kerry told BBC News Brasil that he was “excited” to speak with the incoming president and expects a “complete turnaround” in Brazilian environmental policy.

“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 also met with elected federal MP 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.

“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.

– This text was published at https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/internacional-63643065.

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