COP26: President Bolsonaro no-show is no embarrassment, says Brazil’s lead negotiator

Published

3 years ago

November 8, 2021

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The absence of President Jair Bolsonaro at the critical UN summit in Glasgow is not a problem, Brazil’s top climate diplomat has told Sky News.

Asked if it was embarrassing that the President had not attended COP26, Paulino de Carvalho Neto said: “Not really. He had other things to do. We have a huge delegation here.”

“We’ve joined important initiatives,” he said in his first UK press interview since the talks began, citing promises to cut methane and end deforestation.

Brazil also boosted its 2030 emissions target, hinting at a change of tone under President Bolsonaro, who once threatened to withdraw Brazil from the Paris Agreement.

During his administration, destruction of forests has soared.

“We recognize that we have a problem in terms of deforestation and we are acting in order to solve this,” said Mr Carvalho Neto, adding it dropped in August and September compared with last year.

Bolsonaro has shifted his position following pressure from civil society and internationally, realising the climate cannot be made a “populist ideological issue”, according to Ana Toni, director of Brazil’s Institute of Climate and Society.

However the G20 nation was “notably absent” from last week’s $1.7billion pledge to support indigenous and local communities (IPLC) in recognition of their crucial guardianship of land, said Clare McConnell, from think tank E3G.

Brazil’s support would have “lent credibility” to its deforestation promise, she said, adding Bolsonaro had “emboldened land invasions through his repeated criticisms of indigenous reservations for occupying valuable land”.

The Kokama people recently told Sky News they had been displaced from the Amazon by logging and mining.

Mr Carvalho Neto dismissed general claims of violence and displacement as “pure advocacy” and “much more complicated” than they appear. But he conceded “obviously, there are problems” which “we are trying hard to address”.

The diplomat was “pretty optimistic” about a good outcome from COP26 but said it would be “up to the [UK] presidency of the conference” as well as “all parties to be as constructive as possible”.

He also argued developed countries – like the US and nowadays China – have a “much greater role to play regarding climate change than Brazil” due to having greater cumulative emissions.

“Brazil is not really responsible,” Mr Carvalho Neto said. The South American nation accounts for just 0.9% of global historical carbon dioxide emissions to 2017, according to Our World in Data, though that could be much higher if deforestation emissions were included, Carbon Brief analysis found.

The diplomat said his country was “giving ground” and “trying to be as flexible as possible” on what has been a major sticking point in previous negotiations: – the part of the Paris Agreement that governs the buying and selling of emissions cuts, known as “Article 6”.

Proponents of such a carbon market say it can help the world reach net zero by balancing out pollution, helping rich countries who buy credits to meet emissions targets, and funding ways to slash emissions in developing countries.

The last two COPs have tried and failed to agree the rules on how this should work and Brazil was accused of disrupting talks – claims he calls “not quite precise”.

Brazil, among others, had wanted to roll over poor credits from an old scheme into a new one, and it had been accused of pushing for double-counting, which means counting carbon credit both where it was generated and where it was bought.

The lead negotiator denied Brazil had ever wanted double-counting. But Gilles Dufrasne from Carbon Market Watch said the country had “effectively been promoting double counting for five years”.

“Until Brazil clearly speaks out against the carryover of old credits… and in support of comprehensive accounting rules for all carbon credits, they will continue to be blockers in Article 6,” said Mr Dufrasne.

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World

Donald Trump confirms Mexico and Canada tariffs – prompting a stock sell-off

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1 hour ago

March 4, 2025

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Donald Trump confirms Mexico and Canada tariffs - prompting a stock sell-off

Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada have come into effect, as has an additional 10% on Chinese products, bringing the total import tax to 20%.

The US president confirmed the tariffs in a speech at the White House – and his announcement sent US and European stocks down sharply.

The tariffs will be felt heavily by US companies which have factories in Canada and Mexico, such as carmakers.

Mr Trump said: “They’re going to have a tariff. So what they have to do is build their car plants, frankly, and other things in the United States, in which case they have no tariffs.”

There’s “no room left” for a deal that would see the tariffs shelved if fentanyl flowing into the US is curbed by its neighbours, he added.

Mexico and Canada face tariffs of 25%, with 10% for Canadian energy, the Trump administration confirmed.

And tariffs on Chinese imports have doubled, raising them from 10% to 20%.

Canada announced it would retaliate immediately, imposing 25% tariffs on US imports worth C$30bn (£16.3bn). It added the tariffs would be extended in 21 days to cover more US goods entering the country if the US did not lift its sanctions against Canada.

China also vowed to retaliate and reiterated its stance that the Trump administration was trying to “shift the blame” and
“bully” Beijing over fentanyl flows.

Mr Trump’s speech stoked fears of a trade war in North America, prompting a financial market sell-off.

Stock market indexes the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite fell by 1.48% and 2.64% respectively on Monday.

The share prices for automobile companies including General Motors, which has significant truck production in Mexico, Automaker and Ford also fell.

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Consumers in the US could see price hikes within days, an expert has said.

Gustavo Flores-Macias, a public policy professor at Cornell University, New York, said “the automobile sector, in particular, is likely to see considerable negative consequences”.

This is due to supply chains that “crisscross the three countries in the manufacturing process” and ” because of the expected increase in the price of vehicles, which can dampen demand,” he added.

The Trump administration is gearing up to bring in other tariffs in the coming weeks.

On 2 April, reciprocal tariffs will take effect on all countries that impose duties on US products.

He is also considering 25% tariffs on goods from the EU “very soon” after claiming the bloc was created to “screw the United States”.

World

More than 30 killed in Bolivia bus crash – second deadly collision within days

Published

1 hour ago

March 4, 2025

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More than 30 killed in Bolivia bus crash - second deadly collision within days

A truck has collided with a bus in southern Bolivia, killing at least 31 people, according to police – just two days after a deadly crash claimed at least 37 lives.

Officers said the bus rolled some 500m (1,640ft) down a ravine after the collision on Monday, which took place on the highway between Oruro, in the Bolivian Altiplano, and the highland mining city of Potosi.

The driver of the truck has been arrested, while the cause of the accident is under investigation.

Police spokesperson Limbert Choque said men and women were among the dead, and 22 people suffered injuries.

Bolivia’s President, Luis Arce, expressed condolences for the victims on social media: “This unfortunate event must be investigated to establish responsibilities,” he said in a post on Facebook.

“We send our most sincere condolences to the bereaved families, wishing them the necessary strength to face these difficult times.”

On Saturday morning, a crash between two buses killed more than three dozen people in the same region.

It happened between Colchani and the city of Uyuni, a major tourist attraction and the world’s largest salt flat.

Coincidentally, one of the buses was heading to Oruro, where one of the most important carnival celebrations in Latin America is currently taking place.

More than 30 people were also killed after a bus crash on 17 February.

In that crash, police said the driver appeared to have lost control of the vehicle, causing it to drop more than 800m (2,600ft) off a precipice in the southwestern area of Yocalla.

Bolivia’s mountainous, undermaintained and poorly supervised roads are some of the deadliest in the world, claiming an average 1,400 fatalities every year.

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The Pope has had ‘two episodes of acute respiratory failure’, Vatican says

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1 hour ago

March 4, 2025

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The Pope has had 'two episodes of acute respiratory failure', Vatican says

The Pope has had two episodes of “acute respiratory failure”, the Vatican has said.

The 88-year-old has been in hospital since 14 February with a severe respiratory infection that triggered other complications.

The Vatican said the respiratory failures were caused by “significant accumulation” of mucus in his lungs and a “bronchospasm”, akin to an asthma attack.

Doctors were then required to perform two bronchoscopies – a test which sees medics use a long, thin, telescope with a light to look into the lungs – to evaluate the Pope’s air passages, the statement said.

“In the afternoon, non-invasive mechanical ventilation was resumed,” the Vatican continued. “The Holy Father has always remained vigilant, oriented and collaborative. The prognosis remains reserved.”

Vatican sources said the situation had been calm this morning, before becoming worse this afternoon.

The respiratory issues the Pope suffered today are due to an ongoing infection rather than a new one but he is not out of danger, they added.

Asked if the Pope is in good spirits, they gave no answer. When asked if the Vatican’s apartment is getting ready to welcome Francis back, the source said it was too premature to discuss this.

His clinical picture remains complex, they said.

Earlier on Monday, Pope Francis issued a written message after Vatican officials begged him to let his voice be heard following more than two weeks out of public view.

He thanked his doctors for their care and well-wishers for their prayers, before praying for peace in Ukraine and elsewhere.

“From here, war appears even more absurd,” he wrote.