Minister Joaquim Leite leaves COP27 before the end of negotiations

Although COP27, the UN climate conference, has not yet been concluded, amid major disagreements between the countries, the Minister of the Environment, Joaquim Leite, has already left the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, in Egypt, where the event happens.

Early this Saturday (19th; Friday night, 18th, in Brazil), he left for the Egyptian capital, Cairo, on a flight from the resort’s airport that is hosting the conference. The report of Sheet saw him in line for the plane, but was unable to contact him to ask the reason for the early departure.

Leite, as a minister, is the head of the Brazilian delegation at COP27. He, therefore, will not participate in the discussions for the final agreement of the meeting.

The conference would have ended this Friday, but should extend until Sunday (20) precisely because of the difficulty of the countries to reach an agreement.

On the morning of Friday (18), Leite was also absent from the negotiations. He chose to dive to appreciate the corals on the coast of the Red Sea. In the afternoon, he went to the convention center where the COP27 takes place.

THE SheetBrazilian negotiators claim that, despite heading the delegation, Joaquim Leite does not participate in the guidelines on the country’s positions.

According to people connected to Itamaraty, diplomat Leonardo Athayde led the discussions during the first week of the COP. In the second week, Ambassador Paulino Franco de Carvalho Neto arrived to reinforce the Brazilian leadership—in practice, the command was shared with Athayde, not with the minister.

Leite traveled to Egypt on a commercial flight – just like in 2021, when he went to Scotland for COP26.

This year, in a speech on Tuesday (15), the minister criticized political leaders, philanthropists and businessmen who came to the conference with private jets while demanding a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

The criticism took place on the same day that the president-elect, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), arrived at the Egyptian resort on a jet, together with businessman José Seripieri Filho.

_{Reporter Jéssica Maes traveled to Sharm el-Sheikh, in Egypt, at the invitation of Instituto Clima e Sociedade (iCS).}