Brazil announces more ambitious emission reduction and deforestation goals

The Brazilian government, highly criticized for its environmental policy, announced this Monday during COP26 that it is committing to more ambitious goals to reduce greenhouse gases and eliminate illegal deforestation.

“We present a new, more ambitious climate goal, going from 43% to 50% [la reducción de gases efecto invernadero] until 2030 and carbon neutrality until 2050, which will be formalized during COP26″ Said Environment Minister Joaquim Leite during a presentation in Brasilia that was broadcast live at the Brazil pavilion in Glasgow.

Leite will arrive on November 7 at the UN climate summit.

The reduction of gases will be in relation to the gas emissions of 2005. The neutrality goal had already been advanced by the government from 2060 to 2050 last April.

The government also announced on Monday that it will advance two years, from 2030 to 2028, its goal to eliminate illegal deforestation, despite the high figures in recent years under the government of the far-right Jair Bolsonaro.

In a video prerecorded and broadcast in the Brazilian pavilion, Bolsonaro affirmed that “Brazil is part of the solution to overcome this global challenge.” “The results achieved by our country up to 2020 show that we can be even more ambitious”, He defended.

Accused of cutting staff and funding for public bodies dedicated to preserving the environment, the Brazilian government has made a series of announcements in recent weeks in an attempt to improve its international image during the summit.

US climate envoy John Kerry praised the announced measures. “We welcome the new commitments from Brazil”He wrote on his Twitter account. “This adds crucial momentum to the global movement to combat #Climatic Crisis. We are looking forward to working together!”, He expressed.

Last Friday, the South American giant, which is home to 60% of the Amazon, announced that it will sign the “Forest Deal”, a key agreement that seeks to be reached during COP 26 on reducing deforestation and soil degradation between now and 2030.

According to a report published by the Oenegés collective Climate Observatory, Brazil’s CO2 emissions increased 9.5% year-on-year in 2020. The world average was down by 7% due to the coronavirus pandemic, which forced a reduction in transport and production.

This exception was due to the fact that “the increase in deforestation last year, especially in the Amazon, put Brazil at the opposite end of the planet”.

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