Financial impasse puts COP15 at risk, says transitional government in letter

The elected government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) is already playing its cards in the UN biodiversity COP15 negotiations, which will run until the 19th in Montreal.

In a letter sent this Thursday morning (15) to the conference secretariat, the new government endorses the demand made by the Itamaraty for developed countries to assume commitments with the financing of biodiversity goals.

“Delegations must leave Montreal with quantitative and substantive commitments from developed countries to provide and mobilize financial support for the implementation of the new global biodiversity framework”, says the letter, signed by former PT senator Jorge Viana, who coordinated the group’s work. of environment of the transitional government.

Articulated by the representative of the transitional government at COP15, Braulio Dias, the letter arrived at the COP secretariat with the request that it be distributed to all participants.

The text also mentions two proposals defended by Itamaraty in the negotiations.

One of them is that developed countries do not hide their financing responsibilities (provided by the Convention on Biodiversity, signed in 1992) behind generic terms that call on everyone to act, including developing countries, as well as public and private sectors.

“All relevant actors will have to play their part. However, this does not replace the specific responsibilities of developed countries in providing and mobilizing financial resources”, defends the letter.

Another Brazilian proposal endorsed by the letter from the transitional government is the creation of a specific fund for biodiversity. Brazil had already put the proposal on the table in March, with support from 63 countries. At the time, the idea was received as an affront to the existing mechanism —the GEF (Global Environmental Facility), which manages funds for climate and biodiversity.

“Funding proposals submitted by developing countries to generate new funding specifically dedicated to biodiversity-related initiatives need to be taken seriously,” the letter reads.

“Developing countries hold most of the world’s biodiversity and have a fundamental role to play in this agenda”, he continues.

The text points out that “the current impasse puts this agenda at risk”, in reference to the apparent dead end in which negotiations reached in the early hours of Tuesday to Wednesday (14), when developing countries, led by Brazil, abandoned collectively one of the trading rooms. The action took place in protest against the lack of ambition and flexibility of developed countries to discuss new commitments with the financing of the biodiversity agenda.

The breach of protocol worried the COP presidency, led by China, which the next day called meetings with Brazil and with the heads of all delegations. Negotiations resumed overnight with tensions maintained — but the countries, this time, remained in the room.

This Thursday (15), ministers from developed countries are expected to make announcements about their new funding contributions, which could improve the atmosphere at the COP, according to the expectation of negotiators from developing countries.

The ministers of the countries’ environmental portfolios arrived on Wednesday (14) to assume the leadership of their delegations, raising the decision-making power of the negotiations to a political level.

Brazil, however, does not have the same level of political power. The Minister of the Environment, Joaquim Leite, will not come to COP15. He is represented by the portfolio’s biodiversity secretary, Julie Messias, who shares the head of the Brazilian delegation with ambassador Leonardo Athayde.

“Brazil is fully committed to the success of the negotiations. As the largest megadiverse country, which concentrates more than 20% of the world’s biodiversity, Brazil considers that an ambitious framework must ensure that all countries have the resources and capabilities to implement it and that everyone can benefit from biological resources”, said the secretary in a note to the report.

_{the report Ana Carolina Amaral traveled to Montreal at the invitation of the NGO Avaaz.}