SAO PAULO, (Reuters) – Brazil is expected to announce revised climate targets this week, as President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva strengthens a prior pledge made by his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro, government officials with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
Lula is expected to speak today at a Climate Ambition Summit called by the United Nations secretary general, where “in principle” he would announce the revised target, one Brazilian official said.
The country will institute an annual cap of 1.32 gigatonnes of greenhouse gas emissions by 2025, equivalent to a 50% reduction from 2005, said a second Brazilian official, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media ahead of the announcement.
Brazil intends to cap 2030 emissions at 1.20 gigatonnes of greenhouse gas, a reduction of 53% compared to 2005, the source said. Brazil’s new climate change targets would be more ambitious than the United States, which has pledged to cut emissions by 50-52% by 2030, also compared to 2005.
The person said that capping the emissions in gigatonnes would bring clarity and put the new target on a par with Brazil’s original 2015 target before Bolsonaro laid out new targets.
Brazil’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Lula dedicated a section of his speech to climate change on Tuesday at the United Nations General Assembly.
“The vulnerable populations of the Global South are most affected by the losses and damages caused by climate change,” Lula said.
“The richest 10% of the world population is responsible for roughly half of all the carbon emitted into the atmosphere. We developing countries do not want to repeat this model.”
Lula is expected to make the announcement at U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ Climate Action Summit on Wednesday. However, as of Tuesday, the U.N. could not confirm whether Lula would speak as the Secretary General’s team is still weeding out applications.
Lula has staked his reputation on restoring Brazil’s environmental stewardship after soaring deforestation of the Amazon rainforest under Bolsonaro.
Roughly half of Brazil’s greenhouse gas emissions come from deforestation and other land use.
Soon after nearly 200 countries agreed to the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, Brazil pledged to cut its emissions by 43% by 2030, compared to 2005 levels.
Bolsonaro, facing international pressure on rising deforestation, increased that figure to 50% – but his government also raised the 2005 baseline so the new pledge was easier to meet than the old target.
Sources told Reuters in May that the government intended to revise the Bolsonaro-era target, while Lula said in June the country would make “necessary corrections” without giving details.
