MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Stricter measures against fossil fuels called for at COP28

Silva was touched by the confirmation of her native Amazon region to host COP30 in 2025

The Brazilian delegation attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai this week called for stronger measures against the proliferation of fossil fuels, Agencia Brasil reported.

Environment and Climate Change Minister Marina Silva expressed her concerns after the third draft of the COP's final declaration replaced the term “eliminating” fossil fuels with “replacing” them with renewable alternatives.

Silva contends that the text lacks ambition regarding deadlines and fails to adequately address actions that both developed and developing nations should take to phase out fossil fuels. She advocates for clearer language in the text and deems the current document insufficient in this regard.

“We believe a more ambitious text is appropriate. The current text lacks ambition in terms of deadlines and only addresses emissions without detailing how to work towards the elimination of fossil fuels,” she stressed.

Brazil is pushing for a final conference text aligned with the objectives set in the 2015 Paris Agreement, specifically the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5ºC above pre-industrial levels. The country rejects the alternative target outlined in the agreement, which proposes a temperature “well below 2°C.”

The continuous release of greenhouse gases, primarily from burning fossil fuels since the Industrial Revolution, has led to a rise in global temperatures, contributing to the current climate crisis marked by extreme events like excessive heat, prolonged droughts, and heavy rainfall.

In addition, the Brazilian city of Belém, the capital of the State of Pará, received unanimous support Monday in Dubai to host COP30 between Nov. 10 and 21, 2025.

Earlier in May, Brazil had garnered the support of practically all South American and Caribbean countries, meeting a crucial UN requirement for hosting the climate talks. The official confirmation came at the Dubai session, with COP29 slated to take place in Azerbaijan in 2024.

“I am especially touched by the nomination of the Amazon, where I was born and raised, to host this conference. The Amazon is a living symbol of the seed we planted at Rio 92. A region where the connection between the three conventions we signed on that occasion is evident: the Biodiversity Convention, the Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the Convention on Desertification. The Amazon shows us how intertwined the conventions are in their challenges, but also in the synergistic solutions they encompass,” said Silva.

(Source: Agencia Brasil)