Brazil, Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) signed this Monday (14) a joint declaration of cooperation for tropical forests and climate action.
Owners of the largest tropical forests in the world, the three countries have been negotiating since the COP26 on Climate – a year ago in Scotland – the formation of a bloc to strengthen their positions in negotiations on climate and biodiversity.
according to Sheet anticipated, the countries sought to launch the partnership during COP27 – which runs until the 18th, in Egypt.
A good part of the trio’s key messages, however, are aimed at the COP15 negotiations on biodiversity, which should take place in December, in Canada.
The UN intends to address the challenge of conserving biodiversity with an agreement of force equivalent to the Paris Agreement on climate change. The owners of large forests, however, are suspicious of the proposal of a goal of conservation of the territories – something that could collide with national sovereignty – and prefer to talk about financial incentives for conservation.
The five-page statement advances some joint positions of the partnership. One of them is the creation of a new international fund dedicated to biodiversity – a Brazilian proposal supported by Indonesia and African countries in the preparatory meetings for COP15.
The text also foresees cooperation to implement the mechanism of payments for results in conservation – the so-called Redd, an acronym that means reduction of emissions from avoided deforestation and degradation.
The most successful example of the mechanism is the Amazon Fund, which received donations from Norway and Germany in the last decade for each verification of a reduction in deforestation rates.
The instrument was paralyzed by the Bolsonaro government, but Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of Congo count on Brazilian cooperation so that the proposal also takes off in their territories.
The joint declaration, however, does not provide definitions of how the partnership should work.
“We seek to deepen cooperation between our countries in order to develop and promote tropical forests and climate action that may include, but are not limited to, the following areas: sustainable management and conservation of the rainforest; bioeconomy for forests and healthy people and restoration of critical ecosystems and forests”, says the text.
“The implementation of cooperation in the aforementioned areas will be carried out through specific agreements to be discussed and agreed in due course”, concludes the declaration.
Although it focuses on joint positions, the text misses a difference between the three countries on the concept of climate justice.
🇧🇷[Sublinha] the importance for some of the concept of ‘climate justice’.” According to a representative of the Ministry of the Environment heard by the report, the term ‘for some’ was inserted in the text because there was no consensus on the subject.
However, the phrase ‘the importance for some of the concept of climate justice’ is exactly written in the preamble of the Glasgow Pact. For observers of the COP27 negotiations, the three countries signed a text with badly copied parts of international agreements.
PT administrations were already seeking to negotiate with holders of large forests and, during the electoral campaign, Lula’s team expressed the desire to work as a bloc with Indonesia and the DRC. Under Bolsonaro, however, the partnership takes on a focus on funding and a refusal to commit to more ambitious preservation commitments.
In September, at the G20 ministerial meeting, the three countries signed a demonstration with 11 other nations against legislation passed by the European Parliament that prohibits the import of commodities linked to deforestation.
The declaration makes an indirect reference to European legislation by supporting efforts that mutually benefit countries.
“We underline the importance of strengthening efforts to facilitate trade and development policies, internationally and nationally, that promote sustainable development and sustainable production and consumption of commodities that work for the mutual benefit of countries and do not lead to deforestation.” says the text.
“While it contains encouraging elements, there are also troubling messages for the international community and for indigenous peoples and local communities,” says Oscar Soría, campaign director for the NGO Avaaz, which has advocated for a partnership to engage the elected government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The partnership was criticized for focusing on the request for international resources in the scope of carbon stocks guaranteed by forests, without citing commitment to human rights and biodiversity conservation goals.
“This OPEC of forests is looking more like a carbon cartel than a modern alliance that responds to the needs of a billion people. We hope that the next Lula administration can correct the direction of this alliance”, says Soría.
The partnership was signed in Bali, Indonesia, which is hosting the G20 meeting this week.
On behalf of the Ministry of the Environment of Brazil, ambassador José Amir Dornelles signs. The Indonesian Investment Minister, Luhut Pandjaitan, and the Deputy Prime Minister and Environment Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ève Bazaiba, also sign.
The Planeta em Transe project is supported by the Open Society Foundations
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