Brazil Tries To Regain Credibility At UN Climate Conference With New Ambitious Proposal

Brazil’s Environment Minister Joaquim Leite announced on Thursday that he is planning to regain the country's credibility during the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) on Oct. 31 by a new ambitious climate proposal.

"We want to clearly position Brazil as a country that is part of the Climate Agreement and has an ambitious target of a 43% reduction in emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2050. We are part of the solution," he told reporters.

Brazil has been under growing scrutiny for doing little to fight climate change since President Jair Bolsonaro took office. Bolsonaro, a former conservative military officer who was elected into office in 2019, has often uplifted industries that want more access to the Amazon’s protected areas, cut land rights of Indigenous people and dismissed conservation efforts.

Leite now has the job of leading the Brazilian delegation to COP26 in Glasgow and convincing other country leaders that Brazil is committed to reducing their emissions despite Bolsonaro’s climate neglect.

He also has to convince UN delegations that Brazil needs more funding for greener economies and forest conservation, Leite said.

"Brazil will seek consensus especially on the volume of financing for mitigation and reforestation. That needs to be more than the $100 billion per year that was promised and never delivered," he said.

According to Leite, if Brazil bases 83% of its energy metric on renewable sources, it will be able to reach its net neutrality target.

Reuters noted that Brazil will need to primarily cut back on deforestation in order to meet the set climate proposal.

As of July, the Amazon rainforest was emitting more carbon dioxide than it absorbs due to increased forest fires from growing deforestation to create more space for beef and soy production.

On Tuesday, Leite met with Germany, Norway, the U.S., and the U.K. in preparation for the COP26 negotiations.