The three-minute speech by President Jair Bolsonaro (non-party) at the opening of COP26, the United Nations Conference on Climate Change, was granted to Brazil in exchange for the signing of the Declaration of Forests, announced at the beginning of the meeting in Glasgow.
The condition was imposed by the United Kingdom, according to sheet he found out with members of the Brazilian delegation and confirmed it with the British diplomacy, who is presiding over the COP26.
The British said it would make no sense to set the stage for a country that was unwilling to make climate commitments. “Brazil is part of the solution to overcome this global challenge,” stated Bolsonaro in the video shown at the opening last Monday (1).
The same condition had been placed by the UN Climate Summit, held in September 2019. By not presenting new climate commitments, the Brazilian speech was vetoed at the event in New York.
Also at the beginning of COP26, Brazil signed the global commitment on methane, after pressure from the United States, which suggested privileging trade agreements with the signatories of the commitment.
Itamaraty agreed with the condition imposed by the United Kingdom in this COP, seeing it as an opportunity to control damage. Bolsonaro’s video and the Declaration of Forests aimed at a positive projection of the country at the beginning of the conference, in the hope of avoiding attacks and accusations of non-commitment to the environmental agenda.
Even so, Bolsonaro won for Brazil the “anti-prize” Fossil da Semana, granted by the Climate Action network to countries that, in the organisation’s assessment, are most damaging to climate negotiations. The Brazilian president was chosen “for his horrible and unacceptable treatment of indigenous peoples” after criticizing activist Txai SuruÃ.
By giving in to British pressure, the Brazilian government also assessed that the Declaration of Forests would not entail costs for the country, as the commitment does not have the force of law and is only about principles for forest conservation.
However, the signing of a document whose text was ready (therefore, it does not allow negotiation of terms) was uncomfortable for Itamaraty, which would not have committed itself in previous years, when Brazil was recognized as a protagonist in climate negotiations.
In 2014, for example, with deforestation in the Amazon below 5,000 km2, Brazil did not adhere to the Declaration of Forests signed in New York. Deforestation in the biome, which was already growing, jumped in 2019 and maintains a new level, around 10,000 km2.
In addition to deforestation, the old image that painted the country as an environmental power has been eroded by the international community in the last three years, with the dismantling of environmental policies and the retreat from commitments, expressed in the position of diplomacy in climate and biodiversity negotiations and also in speeches by government representatives at international forums.
In the assessment of government officials, the departures of the ministers of Foreign Affairs, Ernesto Araújo, and of the Environment, Ricardo Salles, were fundamental for changing the Brazilian position at COP26.
With the new government chancellor, Carlos Alberto França, and the new commander of the environmental portfolio, Joaquim Leite, the technical teams managed to convince the government to adopt a more pragmatic strategy, with a constructive tone in the climate negotiations in exchange for international recognition — that could lead to economic agreements.
The government is trying to show the world that it has understood —after nearly three years of administration— the environmental criteria that have come to condition economic agreements and guide forums such as Davos and the G20.
Among the expectations is the unblocking of the European Union’s trade agreement with Mercosur, which was locked in the European Parliament. Two days after Brazil signed the Declaration of Forests, the head of European diplomacy, Joseph Borell, said that Brazil’s environmental commitments are crucial to the conclusion of the agreement.
In contrast to the change in Brazilian position, leaders of the negotiations praised the country in the first days of COP26.
When talking to the sheet, John Kerry, the United States’ special climate envoy, praised the new Environment Minister, Joaquim Leite, and stated that Washington will help Brazil meet its climate goals.
On Twitter, Alok Sharma, British president of COP26, called “real progress” the Brazilian goal of zeroing its greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
At the opening of COP26, Brazil also corrected its 2030 climate target, with a forecast of 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. The previous target, submitted to the UN by the Salles administration at the end of 2020, had been accused of setbacks and climate cycling, for changing the calculation basis without adjusting the final number.
Despite the praise, Brazil’s defenses in the COP26 negotiations are still observed with suspicion, which is highlighted at times when the country reinforces its positions.
In one of the main topics of negotiation, Brazil defends that the carbon credits generated by the rules of the Kyoto Protocol —which was in force between 2005 and 2020— be accepted in the new carbon market, which may be created as of this COP26.
After reinforcing its position at the end of this first week of negotiations, Brazilian diplomacy was once again accused of a setback in the climate.
The same country that brought a goal that is going backwards, now wants to sell old carbon credits, a representative of the small islands would have said in reference to Brazil.
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