Instead of blackmail, Brazil will make history at COP27, says Marina Silva

“The climate issue is now a strategic priority at the highest level of government,” says former Environment Minister Marina Silva. In an interview with Sheet this Wednesday (2) she advanced the change of direction in the Brazilian position on the climate crisis, which is going through diplomatic negotiations in the next two weeks in Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt.

Marina should participate in COP27, the UN conference on climate change, as well as President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

“The orientation [do país nas negociações] can no longer belong to the government that has already been, in quotation marks, ‘fired’ by the Brazilian people”, points out Marina, who defends Lula’s presence in the high-level segment of the COP, reserved for ministers and heads of state, as a future president, albeit informally.

“Al Gore, who was vice president of the United States, has participated, so we could set a new precedent,” he argues.

In her view, “Brazil will stop going to the COP to blackmail” — in reference to the requests made by ex-minister Ricardo Salles (PL-SP), elected federal deputy, for countries to remunerate Brazil as a condition for the conservation.

“Brazil is going to the COP to make history”, he concludes.

Marina recalls, for example, that US President Joe Biden was elected putting the environment at the center of his campaign. For her, the fact that Lula also raised the issue to a prominent place in the debate shows not only an update of the PT’s speech, but also points to the possibility of the country taking a leading role on the world stage.

Elected federal deputy (Rede-SP) for the next legislature, Marina does not comment on her possible appointment to return to the command of the portfolio in the Lula government, emphasizing that her contributions are programmatic and are not conditional on obtaining positions.

However, she already presents a series of strategies that the new government can adopt at COP27 — an event she would go to anyway, she emphasizes, because she is previously accredited as a representative of civil society.

Among Marina’s proposals is the rescue of Brazil’s role as a mediator in negotiations on challenging issues, such as losses and damage caused by the climate.

The former minister defends the concept of “active vector” as a criterion to define for which climate damage the countries that emit the most greenhouse gases can be held responsible. “For example, Bangladesh, which did not contribute to emissions, but is a victim of emissions. The vector of these losses is active, it is climate change, so it must be rewarded”, she quotes.

She also suggests a more active participation in climate finance by Brazil, “an upper middle-income country that was willing to contribute financially in 2014”. “I think this will come back”, she signals about the topic, which should have repercussions among emerging economies at the COP.

Marina Silva is one of the main names quoted to take over the Ministry of the Environment (MMA), according to interlocutors linked to the president-elect.

Among Marina’s advantages, according to supporters of her name for the MMA, is her experience in the position and the international recognition of her management, whose strategy has promoted a historic reduction of 83% in deforestation in the Amazon.

On the other hand, people linked to Lula’s campaign believe that international credit clinches Marina’s name for a climate emergency secretariat. The creation of the agency is a demand from the sector for the new government. He would work under the presidency, representing the country in this area – like powers like the US and Germany, which have renowned figures as their special climate envoys.

“I did not propose this idea of ​​a secretariat, of being a spokesperson for the outside”, says, however, Marina, when asked if she would accept the possible post.

She cites his proposal, delivered to Lula, to create a National Climate Security Authority. This, in turn, would function as an autarchy linked to the MMA — which is interpreted by interlocutors as a preference by Marina to return to her old post.

The focus of the National Authority would be the implementation of climate goals within the country, in articulation with governments and economic sectors, while the Secretariat would also have a diplomatic role.

Proposed by the network Uma Concertação pela Amazônia and endorsed by former MMA minister Izabella Teixeira, linked to Lula’s government program in the environmental area, the new function would still need to go through a definition of powers and budget.

The risk, in the assessment of people linked to the Sustainability Network, would be to have a disclosure body without effective powers.

Another possibility for MMA is Senator Randolfe Rodrigues (Rede-AP). He is seen by PT members as a name closer to Lula and capable of articulating with sectors active in the Amazon.

At the beginning of the year, Randolfe gave up running for the government of Amapá to join Lula’s campaign. Marina, on the other hand, joined Lula’s project only in September, after a meeting in which he adopted his proposals for the environmental area.

“From a personal point of view, we never broke this bond. The distance was political and this programmatic and political bond was re-established”, says Marina.

Randolfe’s trip to COP27 has not yet been confirmed, according to the team, which assesses the possibility of him missing the event and thus avoiding a conflict of dialogue, since the two names are from the same party.

_{The Planeta em Transe project is supported by the Open Society Foundations.}