Vice President Hamilton Mourão (PRTB) stated this Wednesday (3) that Brazil will have a deadline to adapt its agriculture to the Global Commitment on Methane.
The objective of the agreement, signed by the country during COP26, is to reduce 30% of global methane emissions by 2030, compared to emissions in 2020. In total, 96 countries adhered to the commitment.
“So we have a deadline to adapt. And most of the producers are already working towards collecting waste [do gado] and consequently later burning them so that they do not contaminate the atmosphere,” said Mourão, emphasizing that the problem of methane emission is mainly associated with livestock excrement.
He also recalled that the international agreement provides financing for gas-emitting countries to adapt.
“The methane issue is mainly linked to livestock excrement. We have a huge cattle herd, so there will have to be an adaptation, a planning for this. There are already companies that do the mitigation of cattle waste,” said Mourão, upon arriving at the vice president’s office.
“In our barracks, when we were an Army almost entirely on horseback, we were already doing that. So there is know how, everyone just has to adapt, it’s a matter of mitigation. And there are resources involved there, from what I’ve seen of the order of US$ 12 billion, which would be involved to help the countries in this process”.
Signatories of the Global Commitment on Methane represent at least 46% of gas emissions and two-thirds of global GDP, according to an analysis by the WRI (World Resources Institute). Global methane emissions are also linked to fossil energy sources such as coal, oil and gas. The agreement provides for an annual review of the progress of the target in a meeting with ministers from the signatory countries.
The largest beef exporter in the world, Brazil resisted the agreement, which implies a review of processes in cattle raising. According to high-ranking sources in the federal government, pressure from the United States in recent weeks was decisive for the adhesion, which had the agreement of the Ministries of Environment, Foreign Affairs and Agriculture.
About 70% of gas emissions in Brazil are concentrated in the agricultural sector, according to data from SEEG (System for Estimating Emissions and Removals of Greenhouse Gases).
According to Embrapa, most of the methane emissions from the agricultural sector are due to the enteric fermentation of cattle, but the use of nitrogen fertilizers also generates emissions.
The global attention to methane emissions soared in August, when the IPCC (UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) revealed that methane is the second gas that most affects the global climate, accounting for 0.5ºC of global warming in 1 , 1ºC experienced since 1900.
Methane is also a gamble for short-term climate action.
On Wednesday, Mourão also declared that the Brazilian government “is committed” and in line with the international community’s objective of preventing an increase in the earth’s temperature beyond 1.5ºC. “[O aquecimento global] it will harm countries that have oceans, it will harm the issue of agriculture, that is, it will make life difficult here on Earth. So Brazil is doing its part in this sense.”
The deputy also denied that President Jair Bolsonaro (non-party) had been “isolated” during the G20 summit, held in Rome on 30 and 31 October.
During the meeting, Bolsonaro had few bilateral meetings and did not participate in the visit organized by Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi to the Trevi Fountain.
“I don’t see it that way [que Bolsonaro tenha ficado isolado], the G20 is a dense meeting. Obviously there are technical discussions before, but when you bring together the representatives of the 20 largest economies in the world, the agenda is already prepared. The president participated, gave a speech that I thought was very good, on Saturday [30] in the morning. A speech putting very clearly what our goals are, so this issue of bilateral meetings, I think that at that time, was not foreseen,” said Mourão.
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