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\u2018Country of promises\u2019: Brazil\u2019s struggle to lead climate policy at COP28 | Climate Crisis News<\/p>\n
Dubai, United Arab Emirates \u2013<\/strong> Even before he took office last January, Brazilian President Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva sought to position his country as a world leader in the battle against climate change.<\/p>\n He arrived at the United Nations Climate Change Conference last year to cheers and supporters chanting his name. \u201cBrazil is back,\u201d he told enthusiastic audiences, declaring the fight against climate change \u201cthe highest profile\u201d issue of his administration.<\/p>\n One year later, Lula is returning on Friday to the annual climate conference, known in its latest edition as COP28. But critics question whether he has lived up to the sweeping promises he made on the world stage, particularly as Brazil continues to grow its oil and natural gas sectors.<\/p>\n \u201cLula da Silva\u2019s Brazil can\u2019t be at once a climate leader and the world\u2019s fourth oil exporter,\u201d Suely Ara\u00fajo, a public policy specialist at the environmental NGO Observat\u00f3rio do Clima, told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n Still, with world leaders like United States President Joe Biden and China\u2019s Xi Jinping notably absent from COP28, Lula aims to send the message that Brazil can marshal efforts to tackle climate policy \u2014 and fill the leadership vacuum.<\/p>\n \u201cWe arrive at COP28 with our heads held high,\u201d Ana Toni, the climate change secretary at the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, said during a November 8 news conference.<\/p>\n Brazil\u2019s government has already announced that the country plans to send the largest delegation in its history to the event, composed of an estimated 2,400 registered participants.<\/p>\n Most hail from civil society or business organisations, but at least 400 are expected to be government officials, including high-level cabinet ministers.<\/p>\n The show of strength at COP28 strikes a contrast with the more sparse attendance under Lula\u2019s predecessor, former President Jair Bolsonaro.<\/p>\n The right-wing leader, a climate sceptic, was a repeated no-show at the annual climate conferences, and upon taking office, he revoked Brazil\u2019s offer to host one of the events.<\/p>\n Bolsonaro also drew criticism for overseeing record levels of deforestation in Brazil\u2019s Amazon rainforest, where destruction hit a 12-year high in 2020. Approximately 218.4sq kilometres (84.3sq miles) of forest cover were razed in his final month in office alone.<\/p>\n Deforestation has slowed under Lula, dropping 20 percent since his inauguration, according to government statistics. Earlier this year, he announced an \u201cecological transition plan\u201d that would invest in green energy goals, and he has set 2030 as the deadline for ending Amazon deforestation.<\/p>\n \u201cLula da Silva\u2019s government has already achieved important advances in terms of rebuilding Brazil\u2019s environmental policies,\u201d Ara\u00fajo said. \u201cThe climate agenda has had a central place [in his administration] since his presidential campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n But critics have blasted Lula for not going far enough \u2014 and for failing to bring key stakeholders into his climate change agenda.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re still living in the country of promises, not of effectiveness,\u201d said Dinamam Tux\u00e1, executive coordinator for the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB), an Indigenous rights coalition.<\/p>\n Lula is expected to use the COP28 conference to push world leaders for greater commitments to protecting rainforests like the Amazon, which are pivotal for moderating climate change.<\/p>\n But Tux\u00e1 fears Lula\u2019s proposals are empty words without more political support at home.<\/p>\n Brazil\u2019s Congress skews conservative, with Bolsonaro\u2019s party holding the most seats of any single group in the lower chamber. This, Tux\u00e1 explained, has stymied Lula\u2019s goals of bolstering Brazil\u2019s economic policies and advancing Indigenous rights.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are seeing a beautiful discourse and maybe even political will, but there\u2019s no governability,\u201d Tux\u00e1 said.<\/p>\n More than half of Brazil\u2019s 1.7 million Indigenous people live in the Amazon, making them key partners in the fight for environmental protection.<\/p>\n But earlier this year, Brazil\u2019s Congress voted to restrict the powers of federal agencies dedicated to Indigenous peoples and the environment. And in October, Lula partially vetoed legislation to limit what would qualify as Indigenous land, sparking criticism for not having rejected the entire bill.<\/p>\n \u201cWe understand this is a coalition government, but unfortunately, this has made it hard to approve public policies for Indigenous people,\u201d Tux\u00e1 explained.<\/p>\n Other groups likewise decried a feeling of marginalisation in Lula\u2019s climate policy.<\/p>\n T\u00e2mara Terso, a member of the Black Voices for Climate network, said her group would attend COP28 to speak out against environmental racism in Brazil, a term used to describe how communities of colour face disproportionate impacts from climate change.<\/p>\n She criticised Lula\u2019s government for failing to include a race-conscious perspective in its environmental plans.<\/p>\n \u201cEven though we have reached a point of dialogue, there are still obstacles in taking part in the decision-making process,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is the message we\u2019re bringing to COP28.\u201d<\/p>\n Other advocates, meanwhile, have questioned the messages that powerful interest groups are broadcasting at COP28. Cinthia Leone, a press officer for the Brazilian nonprofit ClimaInfo, noted the increasing presence of businesses at the conference.<\/p>\n She fears the climate change events could turn into public relations platforms for industries with little interest in lowering their carbon output.<\/p>\n \u201cCompanies have learned from civil society that they have to be present at COPs,\u201d Leone said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen they arrive, they come on strong, with a lot of money and robust marketing strategies. That ends up turning the event into a big fair where companies set their stands to sell their greenwashing and false solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n The accusation of \u201cgreenwashing\u201d \u2014 or peddling a misleading environmental track record \u2014 is one that Lula himself faces in advance of COP28.<\/p>\n Nicole Oliveira, executive director of the Arayara International Institute, an NGO, pointed to what she considered contradictions in Lula\u2019s rhetoric and his administration\u2019s actions.<\/p>\n The day after COP28 closes, on December 13, Oliveira said Brazil\u2019s National Petroleum Agency is slated to auction off hundreds of \u201cblocks\u201d of territory for oil exploration.<\/p>\n \u201cThe blocks up for auction coincide with preserved areas, including some on top of the Noronha seamounts, recognised worldwide for their role in marine biodiversity maintenance,\u201d Oliveira said. \u201cWe never expected such an auction to take place under this government.\u201d<\/p>\n She also criticised an announcement from the Ministry of Mines and Energy that indicated Lula\u2019s administration aimed to make Brazil the fourth-largest oil exporter in the world.<\/p>\n \u201cAt this point in the climate crisis, we should be walking through a different path, not burning more fossil fuels,\u201d Oliveira said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u0627\u0644\u0645\u0635\u062f\u0631<\/a>A show of strength<\/h2>\n
A need for domestic support<\/h2>\n
\u2018Greenwashing\u2019 at COP28<\/h2>\n
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