COP26: After international pressure, Brazil to sign forest preservation agreement

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – “We sent a formal communication to the initiative’s promoters, confirming our support. We are once again demonstrating Brazil’s new stance of commitment to sustainable development issues and specifically on climate change,” said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Multilateral Policies Secretary Paulino Franco de Carvalho Neto.

“Brazil expects the world’s largest economies to also do their part, particularly in reducing fossil fuel use, the main cause of global warming,” he added.

The “Forest Deal,” the agreement on forest preservation, is one of the major points of COP26, to be held in Glasgow, Scotland, from October 31 to November 12. The agreement aims to enable the setting of clear global targets on reducing deforestation and land degradation by 2030.

According to a report by the NGO Climate Observatory, Brazil’s CO2 emissions increased by 9.5% year-on-year in 2020 despite the fact that the global average dropped by 7% due to the coronavirus pandemic, which reduced transport and industrial production.

This exception was caused by “the increase in deforestation last year, particularly in the Amazon, which placed Brazil at odds with the planet.”

Since Bolsonaro took office in January 2019, the Amazon lost an estimated 10,000 km² of forest per year (almost the area of Jamaica), compared to about 6,500 km² per year in the previous decade.

However, Bolsonaro in April announced that Brazil was committed to eradicating all illegal deforestation by 2030.

Brazil will be represented  in Glasgow by his Environment Minister Joaquim Leite, as Bolsonaro he will be in Rome during the G20 meeting.

Brazil on Monday announced that it would advance its deadline for the complete elimination of illegal deforestation by 2 to 3 years.

The Brazilian delegation to the Glasgow climate summit will announce a target of zero illegal logging by 2027 or 2028, Vice President Hamilton Mourão told foreign media on Monday. This is earlier than 2030, the year Bolsonaro mentioned at the White House-led climate summit in April.

“A more ambitious goal in terms of reducing illegal deforestation over a shorter period would, in my opinion, be extremely well received by the international community,” said Mourão, who chairs the Brazilian government’s National Council of the Legal Amazon. “And it would clearly state the government’s commitment to work on preventing climate change from affecting life on Earth.”

The anticipated 2030 goal was a nod to U.S. President Joe Biden, who cited Brazil’s environmental record at his campaign rallies last year.

For his part, Bolsonaro in 2018 campaigned on a pledge to release the Amazon’s vast resources and downplayed the rights and desires of the indigenous population to leave the vast territory intact. His stance was perceived by many as encouraging illegal logging and unrestricted mining that led to increased deforestation and prompted global criticism.

Bolsonaro has abandoned such belligerent rhetoric as he aims to clean up Brazil’s environmentalist image and portray a responsible government. His critics have cautioned that his change of stance is false and that data pointing to less deforestation in recent months does not necessarily represent a trend.