Nathalia Minari, for NINJA Coverage at COP26

Jair Bolsonaro did not go to Glasgow to participate in the 26th World Climate Conference. He preferred to send a message in which he tries to make up for Brazil’s environmental problems. The almost three-minute video was shown at the Brazil Pavilion, set up in Glasgow. The country’s representative at COP26 was not there either.

The Minister of the Environment, Joaquim Leite participated in a live broadcast. He was at the National Confederation of Industry, together with businessmen and the Ministers of Justice and Agriculture. In this meeting, he announced, without giving details about the planning, that the Brazilian goal of reducing the emission of greenhouse gases by 2030, would go from 43% to 50%, foreseeing the neutralisation of carbon in 2050.

Later on, the Minister informed that the basis for calculating the reductions refers to the 2005 levels, included in the 4th National Greenhouse Gases Emission and Removal Inventory, published in December, 2020. It is worth remembering that, before this change, the last update of the Brazilian Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) was marked by a “climate creative accounting”.

According to experts, the new proposed goal, even though it shows a higher ambition of reduction, does not reach the Brazilian NDC assumed in 2015. The target announced in Glasgow foresees the emission of 1.4 gigatonnes of CO2 by 2030, while the one initially announced foresaw 1.2 gigatonnes. The 2020 goal indicated by Bolsonaro, referring to “climate creative accounting”, predicted the emission of 1.6 gigatonnes of CO2 by the end of this decade.

As for Bolsonaro’s meaningless speech, he said “Brazil has never been part of the problem, but of the solution”, celebrating his government’s proposal. But the whole world believes that Brazil is part of the problem, after all, it was the fourth country in the world that cumulatively emitted the most CO2 from 1850 to 2021, according to a study by Carbon Brief.

The @MidiaNinja and @CasaNinjaAmazonia have a special coverage of COP26. Follow the #ninjanacop on the social media!