Bolsonaro seeks carbon neutrality by 2050
Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro told a US-led climate conference April 22 that his country set a goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, claiming the goal was buoyed by conservation efforts in the Amazon.
Even though Brazil is one of the largest economies in the world, Bolsonaro boasted during the Leaders' Summit on Climate hosted by US president Joe Biden that total greenhouse gas emissions were low in relative terms.
|
Advertisement: The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (NGC) NGC’s HSSE strategy is reflective and supportive of the organisational vision to become a leader in the global energy business. |
“At present, we account for less than 3% of global annual emissions,” he said.
In opening his summit, Biden said that the US economy accounted for 15% of total greenhouse gas emissions. He pledged to cut US greenhouse gas emissions in half by the end of the decade.
Bolsonaro claimed that his is one of the few developing countries with concrete climate goals. Emission reduction targets increase through mid-century and, as such, the president said the Brazilian economy would be carbon neutral by 2050.
Elsewhere, the Brazilian president echoed comments from president Biden that arresting climate change was not an isolated effort.
"Given the magnitude of the obstacles, including financial ones, it is essential to be able to count on the contribution of countries, companies, entities and people willing to act immediately, real and constructively in solving these problems," he said.
On the environment, the Brazilian president claimed environmental conservation efforts in the Amazon and in the nation’s freshwater basins avoided more than 7.8bn mt of carbon emissions over the last 15 years.
That claim brought a rebuke from Human Rights Watch, which said Bolsonaro has actually accelerated destruction in the Brazilian rainforest since taking office in 2019.
“Unless he is willing to take concrete measures to reverse the damage of his disastrous environmental policies, his climate commitments cannot be taken seriously,” the advocacy group said.