In letter on OECD membership, Brazilian government upholds environmental policy

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – President Jair Bolsonaro used the letter accepting Brazil’s invitation to join the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to defend his government in the environmental field, in a reaction to countries that challenged Brazil’s membership to the entity due to poor results in commitments in the area.

“In the environmental area specifically, we have consistently shown our commitment to the goals of the Paris agreement, not only at the recent COP26, when we joined other nations in the goal of achieving global zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 through significant reductions in the public and private sectors. In this context, Brazil is committed to adopt and fully implement public policies in line with the goals of fighting climate change,” reads the text prepared by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Economy and signed by Bolsonaro.

Brazil on Tuesday received the invitation letter from the OECD Council of Ministers to begin negotiations for full membership to the organization, a process that should take between 3 and 5 years.

So far, the country has already subscribed to 103 out of 251 standards and legal instruments required for membership, but has been heavily criticized by some European countries – particularly France – for its poor environmental results over the past 3 years.

Resistance to Brazil’s membership, supported by the United States, was overcome in a negotiation process that allowed the simultaneous accession of 6 countries – 3 Latin American, including Peru and Argentina, in addition to Brazil, and 3 European, with Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia.

In the letter, the Brazilian government says it is ready to begin the process and reiterates its adherence to an open and transparent market economy.

“Brazil has demonstrated its commitment to an open, competitive, sustainable and transparent market economy. Recent economic reforms are a clear indicator of the direction we want to take,” the text reads.