The US government offered around US$ 50 million (R$ 260 million) for environmental cooperation with Brazil, a figure that Brazilian negotiators defined as disappointing. Therefore, the value was not mentioned in the joint communiqué of the visit of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) to the White House, this Friday (10).
Given all the emphasis on the importance of the environmental issue and the announcement that the USA will become part of the Amazon Fund, the Brazilian government thought that the Americans would offer a more significant amount. The value would not only be for the initiative, but also for other types of partnerships.
The American government is expected to show greater ambition during the visit to Brazil of John Kerry, the special envoy for the climate, who should go to the country at the end of February. The figure considered by Washington is lower than that offered by Germany by Prime Minister Olaf Scholz, of € 200 million (R$ 1.1 billion), for environmental actions in general and well below the R$ 3 billion promised by Norway to the Lula government.
From 2008 to 2018, the country invested BRL 3.1 billion, until the fund was frozen during the Bolsonaro government.
The Brazilian government was much more encouraged by the signal from private investors, such as Bezos Earth Fund, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, Rainforest Trust, Andes Amazon Fund/Wyss Foundation and International Conservation Fund of Canada, with whom the country’s authorities met in Washington.
Through its advisory, Itamaraty, however, considered the offer “very positive” and highlighted that it was a unilateral gesture by the Americans. “Gestures are important in diplomacy, and this was a gesture of recognition for the government’s effort in the environmental area in these little more than 30 days of management.”
Created in 2008, the fund works with payments based on results of conservation of the Amazon rainforest. Donations take place when there is a drop in deforestation rates, based on Inpe data. Payments are voluntary and can be made by other governments as well as companies.
The fund is managed by the BNDES (National Bank for Economic and Social Development) along with two committees: a technical one, which certifies emissions data and calculations, and another advisor, with members of civil society, which defines criteria for the application of resources .
In a joint statement released after the meeting, American participation was reduced. “As part of these efforts [de combate à crise do clima]the US has announced its intention to work with Congress to provide resources for programs to protect and conserve the Brazilian Amazon, including initial support for the Amazon Fund, and to leverage investments in this very important region.”
Biden no longer has a majority in the US Congress since January, when the Republican Party took control of the House. One of the main flags of the Republican deputies is precisely the cut in government spending, which they even press for a reduction in the aid sent to the now invaded Ukraine.
To journalists after the meeting with Biden Lula, at first, he evasively commented on the US participation in the initiative —”I think they will —, but later confirmed the American entry in the program. In both cases, he did not mention values. necessary for the country to contribute to the fund and defended “the need for rich countries to assume responsibility for financing countries that have forests”.
Biden and Lula also agreed at the meeting to increase the meetings of the Brazil-US High Level Working Group on Climate Change, a body with representatives from both countries created in 2015 to discuss the environmental agenda, according to a statement from the governments.
The first conversation between the two presidents, alone, lasted about 50 minutes – much longer than the 15 minutes originally planned. Afterwards, there was an extended one-hour meeting with the ministerial offices of both sides —expected to take 45 minutes—, where the proposal of R$ 50 million was made.
Another point on which Brazil was unable to make its will prevail over the Americans was in the way of dealing with the Ukrainian War in the final communiqué. A preliminary version of the text did not directly condemn Russia for the conflict, due to the objection of Brazilian negotiators to more specific language about Moscow’s aggression. Before, the declaration spoke only about cooperation between Brazil and the US on regional and global issues, such as the conflict in Eastern Europe.
The Brazilian government, however, yielded to pressure and accepted a declaration that nominally condemns Russia for the territorial violation in Ukraine, for the disrespect for international law, for the deaths and attacks on the country’s essential infrastructure and cites the effects of the conflict on the world economy. .
“Both presidents deplored Russia’s violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and annexation of parts of its territory as flagrant violations of international law and called for a just and lasting peace,” reads the final wording of the released final text.
With divergent positions in relation to the war, the two countries discussed the effects of the conflict on energy and food security. There was also discussion on public-private partnerships in relation to the global supply chain, heavily impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and the War in Ukraine.
Lula also said he had spoken with Biden about the need to create a club of countries not involved in the war to seek peace. “I felt the same concern from Biden, because nobody wants this war to continue, and we need partners capable of building a group of negotiators that both sides believe in and that both sides can understand and end this war.”
Biden would also have expressed support in reforming the UN Security Council to expand the number of countries with a permanent seat – and veto power – to countries in Latin America and Africa, an old claim of the Lula government.
According to the governments of both countries, the PT also invited the democrat to visit Brazil, and the American president accepted, without a confirmed date.
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