Brazil no longer violates the Paris Agreement, but concrete measures and clearer goals that go beyond eliminating deforestation are still needed.
During an address at the UNSG Climate Ambition Summit on Wednesday, 20 September, Brazil's Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, Marina Silva, officially announced the revision of the country's Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). The new target restores the GHG emission reduction target to what was committed in 2015, and increases the reduction targets for 2025, from 37% to 48%, and for 2030, from 50% to 53%. The target had been reduced during the previous administration under President Jair Bolsonaro. Greenpeace views Minister Marina Silva's announcement as an encouraging step towards rebuilding Brazil's environmental governance and advancing the climate agenda.
"Brazil has the potential to be the first high-emitting country to be carbon negative by 2045. Currently, the country ranks as the 7th-largest greenhouse gas emitter globally, with most of its emissions originating from deforestation. Today's announcement regarding the revision of the country's NDC is a symbolically significant step. But more is needed – like all countries Brazil needs to enhance the ambition of its NDC further if we are to stand a chance of keeping 1.5°C within reach," said Mads Christensen, Executive Director, Greenpeace International.
In 2022, Greenpeace Brazil, along with other Brazilian organizations, presented a document to the government outlining policies and actions that the Brazilian government should put in place to become carbon negative. The report [1] has demonstrated that the country has the potential to become the world's first major economy to sequester more greenhouse gasses than it emits, potentially achieving carbon negativity as early as 2045.
The notable reduction in deforestation rates in the Brazilian Amazon during the first eight months of 2023, compared to the same period last year, offers hope that effective efforts against forest degradation could contribute to reaching the goal just announced of reducing emissions by 53% by 2030. Nevertheless, concrete measures and clear objectives beyond deforestation elimination are necessary.
"Greenpeace Brazil commends the Brazilian government for the decision to revise its NDC, underscoring the numerous proactive steps taken by the new administration in response to the climate emergency. However, while ending deforestation is a crucial step in addressing this challenge, Brazil must go further. A genuine commitment to combating the climate crisis cannot coexist with policies that encourage new oil exploration, especially in environmentally sensitive areas like the mouth of the Amazon River," said Carolina Pasquali, Executive Director, Greenpeace Brazil.
