In his final speech at the Climate Summit this Friday (23), US President Joe Biden gave a quick review of the virtual meeting which brought together 40 world leaders and classified the announcements made by Jair Bolsonaro as “a encouraging news ”(no party) during the event.
Under pressure from the United States, the Brazilian leader contradicted his government’s negligent environmental practices by announcing, Thursday (22), more resources for the environmental inspection, anticipating the country’s climate neutrality in ten years and reaffirming the commitment to end illegal deforestation by 2030 – a goal that was already included in the Paris Agreement, signed in 2015.
Biden spoke quickly on Brazil on Friday, after celebrating what he called “lofty targets” set by Japan, Canada and the European Union, which joined the United States with new targets to reduce emissions. pollutant emissions over the next decade.
The Democrat said the countries accompanying him with more convincing pollutant reduction figures “are showing leadership” and signaling that “half of the global economy is now determined to keep up with the action and pace that we need “to limit global warming to 1, 5 ºC.
Then he cited Brazil. “We also heard some encouraging news: announcements from Argentina, Brazil, South Africa and South Korea,” he said. Members of the US State Department said hours after Bolsonaro’s speech that the Brazilian leader adopted a positive and constructive tone in his nearly seven-minute speech, but felt that the credibility of the United States on Brazil would be backed by solid plans, maintaining what they called a constant focus on results.
At the summit, Argentine President Alberto Fernández announced the increase to 30% of the use of renewable energy sources in the country, without setting a specific deadline for the goal, and pledged to end illegal deforestation. South Korea, for its part, has pledged to stop funding overseas coal-fired power plants and said it will cut carbon emissions by 2050, while South Africa s ‘is committed to reducing its emissions by 28% by 2025, compared to 2015 levels.
Biden also said he was looking forward to working with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who like China has not pledged to reach bolder numbers for the next decade in environmental terms.
Just before his last summit speech, Biden had already given a sort of closing speech, in which he said he saw “great progress” in the debates and celebrated the speech of Russian leader – and his political antagonist – Vladimir Putin , who wants to achieve carbon neutrality in your country by 2050.
“We have made great strides so far, in my opinion. I am grateful to all the leaders who have announced new commitments to help us deal with the threat of climate change,” the US president said. “We are also very excited by President Putin’s appeal yesterday [quinta] for the world to cooperate in the advanced elimination of carbon dioxide, and the United States looks forward to working with Russia and other countries in this effort. It is a great promise. “
Biden wanted to make the final day of the summit a way to detail the plan to deliver on his ambitious pledge to halve U.S. emissions by 2030. The new pledge was formalized by Biden at the opening of the virtual meeting. , in an attempt to lead the debate and stimulate other powers to make stronger announcements on the path to zero emissions by 2050.
But the Democrat knew he had the challenge of explaining how to do it, as specifying the plan is one of his government’s demands in conversations with other countries, including Brazil. Biden has tried to show that after setting big targets for reducing pollutant emissions, changes are needed in the production chain, with public and private investment and job creation anchored in clean energy.