UN Vetoes Brazil’s Speech at New York Climate Summit

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazil is not on the list of countries that will speak at the UN climate summit next Monday in New York. “Brazil has not put forward any plans to increase its commitment to climate change,” Luis Alfonso de Alba, the UN Secretary-General’s special envoy, told the Folha blog.

According to him, the UN asked countries to submit a plan to increase the climate commitment’s goals and, based on the documents they have received, they selected countries that would give inspiring speeches.

The United States, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Australia, and South Korea should also be vetoed. The final speech list comprises 63 countries, including France and the United Kingdom.

Brazil intended to speak during the summit, according to a diplomat who is part of the Brazilian delegation in the climate negotiations and regarded the UN criteria as “subjective”.

He told the blog that the UN organization was confused and introduced several ways to participate. In addition to introducing national plans, the country could, for instance, join some of the initiatives that will be launched during the summit.

Brazil, however, preferred not to commit itself to more ambitious actions. The country proposed to the UN to hold an event to encourage biofuels as a short-term solution to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The proposal was rejected for the summit but will be included in the preparation events, with a discussion on the subject scheduled for Sunday, September 22nd, the day preceding the summit.

“If they let me, I’ll talk,” Environment Minister Ricardo Salles told the blog. He will land in New York on Saturday, September 21st, and will be present at the UN climate summit.

According to sources linked to the government, Salles would represent Brazil if the country would be allowed to speak.

“There is no more time for speech, we need to focus on action,” Alba said to an audience of more than 200 civil society organizations gathered this Wednesday in New York to discuss climate action.

“The UN decision is welcome. Global players must show commitment to climate to deserve a place at the table,” said Jennifer Morgan, Greenpeace’s international executive director.

“It was very clear that only countries submitting additional plans or actions will be given the opportunity to speak and I think this reference is correct for a summit on climate action,” she added.

Strategically scheduled for the eve of the UN General Assembly, which begins on Tuesday, September 25th, the climate summit was called by UN Secretary-General António Guterres, with the aim of encouraging countries’ efforts, in a direct conversation with the heads of state.

The UN Secretary General’s initiative is viewed with caution by Itamaraty diplomats. They believe it runs counter to the negotiation process established by the Paris Agreement, which provides for a review of targets between 2020 and 2023.

The contributions announced by the countries when signing the agreement in 2015 are not sufficient to contain the increase in the planet’s average temperature below 2ºC.

In addition to the UN Secretary-General, events of international proportions, such as the increase in extreme climate events and fires in the Amazon, also put pressure for an advance in the discussion, which should start at the COP-25 on Climate, a convention that will negotiate the final details of the Paris Agreement regulation.

The COP-25 will take place in December in Chile. Brazil would have hosted the convention, but withdrew after a request from Bolsonaro, in November of last year. At the time, the refusal was viewed with concern by the UN, for suggesting a reduction in the country’s commitment to climate action.

OTHER SIDE

In a note, Itamaraty stated that the UN veto on Brazil’s speech is “absolutely unfounded and untrue” because the UN Charter does not provide veto mechanisms to countries’ speeches at multilateral conferences.

According to the note, one of the UN Summit’s criteria for not including Brazil is that the speakers should be heads of state or government.

The note further states that Brazil only submitted the plan requested by the UN on Tuesday, September 17th. In this plan, the country does not introduce new goals, but rather “describes policies and actions that it implements to achieve the already extremely ambitious goals”.

Source: Folha Blog