São Paulo – Reducing deforestation, resuming the climate fund, and proposing debates on funding to curb climate change are some of the future or current measures Brazil will present to the COP28 U.N. climate summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, from November 30 to December 12. The Brazilian proposals were presented last Tuesday (12) in the seminar “Pre-COP28 Dialogue: The role of industry in the climate agenda” held by the National Confederation of Industry (CNI), Brazil’s top industry lobby, in Brasília (pictured).
Representatives of the Brazilian government in the meeting included the deputy secretary for Climate Policy of the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, Aloisio de Melo, who presented the measures to be adopted for fighting deforestation in the Amazon and the Cerrado. He added Brazil expects to pass a regulation of the carbon market soon.
The extraordinary ambassador for Climate Change, Luiz Alberto Figueiredo Machado, recalled a long debate about the rights and duties of all countries. “The countries and societies that will suffer the most are those that contributed least to the creation of the problem itself; this brings us to the issue of climate justice, with so many difficult but important issues that need to be addressed,” he stated.
The Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil) Business director, Ana Paula Repezza, said Brazil would have a pavilion at COP28 to show the “coherence” of its government, society, and private sector’s positioning. “The goal is to show Brazil is a safe partner also from a sustainability point of view,” she said.
In the special session “Brazil’s strategic role in the global transition to a low-carbon economy,” 2001 Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz noted Brazil is a prominent exporter of agricultural commodities and could be one of the most affected by climate change in the future. The country’s climate depends on evaporation from the Amazon. Without it, there is no water for the rainfall. “With a drought, Brazil would not have food to export,” he summarized. Stiglitz noted companies would play a “central” role in the green transition and said the cost of inaction in the face of climate change is much greater than the cost of action.
The Institutional Relations director of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC), Fernanda Baltazar, stated, in the panel “Private sector expectations for COP28,” that the ABCC is already working in partnership with governments and companies from countries in the Middle East and Noth Africa (MENA), remembering some of them have a roadmap for 2030 to reduce emissions and are committed to transforming their economy.
“Arab countries have given direction to the private sector. Many companies are focused on agtech, expanding greentechs, and diversifying into renewable energy. And for COP28, this will be no different. As the ABCC, we understand our role is to know how different Arab countries have worked and what opportunities exist for Brazil,” stated Baltazar. “We intend to interact with the private sector to foster a dialogue beyond the COP, creating a positive agenda,” she said.
The leader of private sector engagement at COP28, Hanan Sakr, stated, in turn, that it is necessary to “empower the climate action journey” of small and medium-sized companies. For the speakers, companies will play a fundamental role in transitioning to a low-carbon economy; at the same time, governments will be responsible for developing public policies and regulations; companies can collaborate with research, development, and innovation to address climate challenges.
Translation by Guilherme Miranda & Elúsio Brasileiro
