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Written by Lisandra Paradise
As world leaders grapple with the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, Brazil, the host of this year’s COP30 climate conference, sees an opportunity to raise the voices of countries that are still in conflict. strong on who will pay for global change. cleaning energy sources.
At last year’s meeting, in Azerbaijan, a bitter war that pitted rich countries against low-income countries, ended with a commitment from rich countries to provide billions of dollars 300 per year to support developing countries by 2035. $100 billion is only a fraction of the $1.3 billion per year that developing countries say they need. The battle is likely to continue this year.
“It was already difficult to reach $300 billion with the United States in negotiations,” said Andre Correa do Lago, the newly elected president of the COP30, in an interview with international media on Wednesday.
He noted that, under President Joe Biden, the US has implemented new strategies to combat climate change and is working to strengthen the role of multilateral development banks, such as the World Bank, to increase funding for projects of preventing global warming. Without all that action, Correa do Lago added, increasing climate finance “will certainly be more difficult now.”
Despite those challenges, Correa do Lago added, developing countries are “very united” in blocking calls from rich nations to expand the base of countries that finance efforts to reduce climate change and adapting to its global consequences.
In recent years, European leaders have called on emerging economies that are increasingly rich and big polluters, such as China and the Gulf states, to make contributions which must help poor countries cope with climate change. China, the world’s second most populous country, is the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases.
“What the developed countries want is not to increase financial resources, they want to lower their contribution to providing financial resources, and that is very wrong,” said Correa do Lago.
The US withdrawal has also raised questions about which countries will help drive the outcome of this year’s world climate conference. As one of the largest economies and exporters in the world, the US has been at the center of the discussion of the results of the COP meetings, along with the European Union and China.
Commenting on the expected withdrawal of the US from the Paris Agreement at last year’s COP29 climate conference, China’s climate ambassador Liu Zhenmin said “Everyone expects that China and the EU work together to fill this gap,” according to the state-run newspaper The Beijing News. “Which is a good wish, but hard to do.”
Correa do Lago pointed to the BRICS group – which brings together Brazil, China and other developing economies – as a forum that can help Brazil create a consensus among developing countries not to weaken in their call of contribution from rich countries, which historically they are. the largest emitters of greenhouse gases. Brazil also holds the BRICS presidency this year.
“We will also seek in BRICS to find an agreement and to stimulate some discussions,” said Correa do Lago.
During the G20 summit held in Brazil last year, Brazil and other developing countries managed to block efforts by rich countries to include calls for developing countries to help with climate finance. Correa do Lago was one of the leading negotiators at the time.
Correa do Lago strongly defended what developing countries are already doing to combat climate change with their own funds, highlighting Brazil’s efforts to curb deforestation, the source said. the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, and China’s billions in investment in clean energy technology.
“China is providing a lot of resources to developing countries by significantly reducing the price of solar panels and the price of electric cars,” he said, adding that these investments are especially important for poorer countries. if China “only contributed. money.”
