Governors take advantage of Bolsonaro’s omission and seek resources at COP26

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While the federal government is regarded with suspicion by the climate diplomacy gathered at COP26, the Governors for the Climate coalition, which brings together 24 Brazilian states, takes advantage of the conference to meet with donor countries and raise funds for climate projects.

The group has three governors at the conference and has already set agendas with donors from France, the United Kingdom and the European Union.

This Thursday (4), they meet with representatives from China and the United States and should also be received, at the end of the day, by Prince Charles, heir to the British crown, to discuss investments in climate.

Last month, the group had presented to the US special envoy for climate, John Kerry, a set of projects in renewable energy, reforestation, watershed restoration and bioeconomy in the five regions of the country. The estimate is to raise around US$ 300 million (R$ 1.6 billion) with the first portfolio.

Also on Thursday (4), the group launched the Brasil Verde consortium, which enables it to receive international money more independently from the federal government.

The mechanism helps to overcome part of the bureaucracy —which centralizes the receipt of resources in the federal government. With the consortium, donations can reach the states directly, but financing resources still need to be approved by the National Treasury.

The launch of the consortium at COP26 was attended by governors Renato Casagrande (ES), Eduardo Leite (RS) and Mauro Mendes (MT), as well as senator Jean-Paul Prates (PT-RN) and the environment and infrastructure secretary from the state of São Paulo, Marcos Penido.

“There is something positive in the absence of the federal government, which generates for us the need for more mobilization,” stated the governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Eduardo Leite (PSDB).

“We do not set out to replace the federal government. The union is made up of the sum of the parts. If there is no dedication by the federal government, then the parts are coming together,” said Leite.

“We made up in part for the government’s absence on this issue. Our movement here also led the government to see this political environment around and make important commitments,” stated Casagrande (PSB), from Espírito Santo.

For the governor of Mato Grosso, Mauro Mendes (DEM), the announcement of US$ 12 billion for forests made by developed countries at the beginning of COP26 is insufficient for the goal of zeroing carbon emissions in the world.

“It is nothing close to what is at stake right now. We will make our efforts, but we need to demand environmental reciprocity. Rich countries must reduce the burning of fossil fuels and show up financially,” Mendes said.

Inspired by the articulation of American states made during the Trump administration, the Governors for Climate coalition was created by environmentalist Alfredo Sirkis shortly after the election of President Jair Bolsonaro, in response to the federal government’s anti-environmental proposals — which arrived, following the example of the former president American, considering the Brazilian exit from the Paris Agreement.

After Sirkis’s death in July of last year, his son, Guilherme Syrkis, continued the articulation, dubbed paradiplomacy, due to the parallel work of representing the country in international relations.

“The emergence of charismatic national leaders who deny global warming has opened loopholes for governors to reaffirm their commitments, fostering the paradiplomatic movement in defense of the global environment,” concludes Syrkis.

The journalist traveled at the invitation of Instituto Clima e Sociedade.

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