The Minister of the Environment of Brazil, Ricardo Salles, told Reuters that Brazil needs to receive 10 billion dollars annually in foreign aid to achieve net zero carbon emissions in the entire economy by 2050, instead of 2060 as planned.
Salles has regularly asked the international community to pay part of the check to reduce Brazil’s emissions, which come mainly from deforestation.
The request for $ 10 billion a year in aid comes at a time when Brazil is negotiating a possible agreement with the United States to raise foreign funds to fight the growing deforestation of the Amazon rainforest.
The official said he does not expect an agreement to be announced at the US Earth Day summit next week, but that talks with the United States will continue: “There is and was no objective of negotiating an agreement by April 22.” .
Reuters reported Thursday that a potential deal had reached a standstill as Brazil demanded upfront financing to scale up efforts to fight deforestation and the United States demanded results before opening its wallet.
“We understand their logic, but they must understand that Brazil has many results,” he said.
He mentioned the fact that most of the Brazilian forests are conserved, which means that the emissions of the carbon they contain have been avoided.
Deforestation in the Brazilian portion of the Amazon rainforest has skyrocketed under Bolsonaro, reaching a 12-year high in 2020 with an area destroyed that is 14 times the size of New York City, according to government data.
Salles said that only $ 1 billion a year out of the $ 10 billion would allow Brazil to achieve zero illegal deforestation before the 2030 target.
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