Don’t expect much from Bolsonaro’s Climate Summit speech

Anti-Bolsonaro protest in London. Photo: Jessica Girvan/Shutterstock

There is a lot of expectation surrounding the contents of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s speech to the U.S.-hosted Climate Summit — which started moments ago. However, sources familiar with climate talks between Brazil and the U.S. tell The Brazilian Report that Mr. Bolsonaro’s remarks will be considered unimportant, due to the president’s lack of credibility on environmental issues.

Since February 17, U.S. climate envoy John Kerry has led talkswith Brazil’s Environment Minister Ricardo Salles on an almost weekly basis, discussing strategies to curb deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.

Both the U.S. and the European Union want Brazil to yield in negotiations concerning Article 6 of the Paris Agreements — which regulates how countries can reduce their emissions using international carbon markets. Brazil insists on using old credits related to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol and wants developing nations to have different targets to work toward, much less strict than those imposed on rich countries.

The White House hoped the Brazilian government would make a bold, detailed pledge to reduce deforestation in this week’s summit — but talks will continue until November, ahead of the 26th UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow.

Débora Álvares

Débora Álvares has worked as a political reporter for newspapers Folha de S.Paulo, O Estado de S.Paulo, Globo News, HuffPost, among others. She specializes in reporting on Brasilia, working behind-the-scenes coverage at the Executive, Legislative, and Judiciary branches of government.