Brazil gives a timely boost to the fight against climate change

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Brazil gives a timely boost to the fight against climate change

The uncertainty could be enough for companies like SK and Samsung to end up moving their factories in China elsewhere

So far, 2022 has been a bleak year in the fight against global warming. Despite having captured the world’s attention at the COP26 summit in Glasgow, the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis are making progress in national commitments to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions “very insufficient” . Therefore, the election of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as president of Brazil represents a tangible boost.

With 1,500 million tons of GHG per year, Brazil is the sixth emitting country in the world. Despite encompassing the largest tropical forest in the world, the Amazon, about 60% of these emissions come from changes in land use caused by deforestation, in addition to methane from livestock, reflecting the country’s status as largest exporter of beef. If Brazil correctly enforced its own Forest Code, deforestation could be reduced by 90% by the end of the decade, according to Carbon Brief estimates. Tree planting and restoration could then absorb the annual emissions caused by the so-called land use, land-use change and forestry (Lulucf) sector by 2040.

As such, Lula’s victory is of international importance. And what is more important, the elections in Brazil have been held when it is increasingly evident that the private sector will not go faster in decarbonizing than governments.

The recent setback in the ambitions of banks participating in the Glasgow Finance Alliance for Net Zero (Gfanz) has come about because political pressure has abated. A similar dynamic has allowed half of the world’s 350 largest food companies to resist calls to create deforestation-free supply chains. This makes political events like Lula’s victory even more vital.

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