Latest news with #AndréCorrêadoLago
Irish Examiner
28-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
World faces new danger of 'economic denial' in climate fight, Cop30 head says
The world is facing a new form of climate denial – not the dismissal of climate science, but a concerted attack on the idea that the economy can be re-organised to fight the crisis, the president of global climate talks has warned. André Corrêa do Lago, the veteran Brazilian diplomat who will direct this year's UN summit, Cop30, believes his biggest job will be to counter the attempt from some vested interests to prevent climate policies aimed at shifting the global economy to a low-carbon footing. 'There is a new kind of opposition to climate action. We are facing a discredit of climate policies. I don't think we are facing climate denial,' he said, referring to the increasingly desperate attempts to pretend there is no consensus on climate science that have plagued climate action for the past 30 years. It's not a scientific denial, it's an economic denial. This economic denial could be just as dangerous and cause as much delay as repeated attempts to deny climate science in previous years, he warned. As the climate crisis has gathered pace, temperatures have risen and the effects of extreme weather have become more obvious, scientists have been able to draw ever more clearly the links between greenhouse gas emissions and our impacts on the planet. So the argument has shifted, Corrêa do Lago believes, from undermining or misrepresenting the science to attempts to counter climate policy. 'It is not possible to have [scientific] denialism at this stage, after everything that has happened in recent years. So there is a migration from scientific denial to a denial that economic measures against climate change can be good for the economy and for people.' The rise of populist politicians around the world has fuelled a backlash against climate policy, most clearly seen in the presidency of Donald Trump in the US, where he has set about cancelling policies intended to boost renewable energy and cut greenhouse gases, and dismantling all forms of government-sponsored climate-related institutions, including scientific research labs. Corrêa do Lago wants to spur a new global effort to persuade people that remodelling the economy away from a reliance on fossil fuels and towards a clean energy future will reap benefits for all people. 'The new populism is trying to show [that tackling the climate crisis does not work],' he said. 'It's the turn of those who believe in the fight against climate change to show and to prove that fighting climate change is possible, and that it can come with economic advantages and with a better quality of life.' Corrêa do Lago faces the task of corralling 196 nations into producing new national plans on greenhouse gas emissions within the next few months, and meanwhile Brazil is already wrestling with the logistical challenges of holding Cop30 in a rainforest. There was controversy earlier this year over a road being built through the forest to the city, though Brazilian officials said the road had already been planned before Cop30 was awarded to Belém. There are also concerns about the environmental credentials of the Brazilian president as his government continues to approve mines and oil drilling projects. The Guardian Read More UN told current Cop is no longer fit to deliver climate change
Bloomberg
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
COP30 President Sees ‘Uphill Battle' With US Exit From Paris Agreement
With roughly six months to go until the next all-important global climate summit, the man running the negotiations says it will be a 'slightly uphill battle' as US President Donald Trump rejects the fight against global warming. COP30 President André Corrêa do Lago, speaking Tuesday at the BloombergNEF Summit in New York, said this year's challenge will be to convince countries that the future of their economies lies in embracing the climate transition. He warned against alternative pathways to follow the US departure from the Paris Agreement or use it as an excuse to step back on climate ambition.
Zawya
06-03-2025
- Politics
- Zawya
COP30 President highlights UAE-Brazil-Azerbaijan alliance as key to strengthening climate governance
ABU DHABI - The alliance between the United Arab Emirates, Azerbaijan, and Brazil— the COP28 president and successors— has been a success, strengthening global climate cooperation, said Ambassador André Corrêa do Lago, according to Agência Brasil. Speaking at an informal meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Wednesday, the COP30 President-Designate highlighted the first edition of the Global Stocktake—delivered during COP28—as one of the key achievements. The mechanism is designed to assess progress towards long-term climate goals. 'The GST is our guide for the 1.5°C mission, in our collective project to implement the vision of the [Climate] Convention and the Paris Agreement—the vision of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change. All of this always in the context of sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty,' he stressed. Corrêa do Lago stated that strengthening multilateralism instruments is the path to reversing dangerous human interference with the planet. 'The choice of the General Assembly as my first official trip outside Brazil is no coincidence but a clear signal that the defence of multilateralism will be at the core of the Brazilian presidency of this COP. Respect for science would be another pillar of our presidency,' he noted. The COP30 President-Designate also declared that the summit, in November, to be held in the Amazonian city of Belém, in the state of Pará, should mark a decisive transition from the negotiation phase to effective efforts in action and implementation. 'The task ahead of us is to strengthen climate governance and provide agility, preparedness and foresight in both decision-making and implementation,' he said. According to Corrêa do Lago, Brazil expects COP30 to provide a decisive boost in three dimensions: protecting and expanding the institutional legacy of the Climate Convention; connecting negotiations and political decisions to real life; and accelerating the implementation of the Paris Agreement through structural solutions and initiatives that extend beyond multilateral climate action, including global governance and financial architecture. For the COP30 President-Designate, this includes the delivery of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which had their deadline extended after a low submission rate by the original cut-off in February. 'National leaders must honour their determination to pursue efforts to limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees. Human lives depend on it. Future jobs depend on it. Healthy environments depend on it,' he said.
The Guardian
17-02-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Brazil asks UN to ditch proposed levy on global shipping
Brazil has asked the UN to throw out plans for a new levy on global shipping that would raise funds to fight the climate crisis, despite playing host to the next UN climate summit. The proposed levy on carbon dioxide emissions from shipping will be discussed at a crunch meeting of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) that begins on Monday. Those supporting the deal, including the UK, the EU and Japan, are hoping the levy will raise billions of dollars a year, which could be used to help poor countries cope with the effects of climate breakdown. Brazil, China, Saudi Arabia and 12 other countries made a submission to the IMO on 31 January opposing the plans. They argued a levy could reduce exports from the developing world, raise food prices and increase inequalities. They wrote: 'A levy would not deliver a just and equitable transition [to low-CO2 shipping] and its adoption may trigger negative, economy-wide impacts … a levy is a fundamentally divisive proposal.' The countries also claim a levy is not needed to meet the IMO's greenhouse gas reduction targets. Experts said the levy could still pass despite this opposition, if the IMO took a firm stance. At least 46 countries, representing about two thirds of the global shipping fleet, are thought to favour a deal. Some countries may also be won round through concessions on how the levy could be used, and the level at which it is set. The countries that are keenest on a levy are those most at risk from climate breakdown, many of them among the planet's poorest. It will be hard for countries such as Brazil and China to present themselves as champions of the developing world if they are pitted against what the most vulnerable nations are calling for. The impact of the levy is likely to be small in overall terms, reducing GDP by between 0.03% and 0.07%, according to estimates quoted in the submission. Brazil will host the Cop30 UN climate summit this November in Belém, at the mouth of the Amazon. The country has been engaged in intense diplomacy for the past year, and stepped up further last month with the appointment of the Cop president-designate, the veteran diplomat André Corrêa do Lago. Brazil has also called for a global wealth tax on billionaires to fund development aid and climate adaptation efforts in poor countries. But maritime campaigners said Brazil's stance on a shipping levy was the result of its highly export-dependent economy. John Maggs, shipping policy director at Seas At Risk, said: 'Brazil is very sensitive, in thinking that because of its exports of large quantities of dry goods, the levy would have a greater impact.' If there is little sign of agreement, the IMO could force discussions to a point. By longstanding tradition, the organisation tries to seek consensus, but some measures have been forced through in the past despite disagreement from some of the 176 member states. Arsenio Dominguez, secretary general of the IMO, said he would 'focus on identifying common ground and build consensus', and pointed out that members had previously agreed to adopt some form of emissions pricing mechanism this year. He said: 'The complexities cannot be underestimated. [But] I am positive that we can achieve the required progress to meet our timeline.' A further complicating factor is Donald Trump's presidency of the US. The IMO is not thought to be one of his priorities, and the US has not formally adopted a position on the levy in the past. Some think the US could 'sit this one out', in the words of one diplomat. But even if the US does not obstruct a deal, Trump's threats of sweeping tariffs are deeply unsettling for countries concerned about global trade. Delaine McCullough, a campaign manager at Ocean Conservancy, pointed out that Trump's tariffs were far more disruptive than any likely impact from a shipping levy. 'The cost of a levy would be dwarfed by the tariff levels [Trump is proposing],' she said. Friederike Roder, director of the secretariat for the Global Solidarity Levies Task Force, which brings together countries calling for levies to fund climate action, said Trump's actions on freezing USAid showed the need for stable, predictable means of financing development, of the kind that only levies and similar mechanisms can provide. Sign up to Down to Earth The planet's most important stories. Get all the week's environment news - the good, the bad and the essential after newsletter promotion 'It shows how important aid is, and the real life impacts of not having enough finance,' she said. The taskforce, set up by Barbados, France and Kenya, and now with 17 members, is consulting on proposals for levies on airline tickets, financial transactions, cryptocurrency and taxes on fossil fuels, and will push for agreement on some of these at the Cop30 summit in Brazil. Roder said levies could work even if all countries did not participate. 'There's good evidence showing you can design them in a way that it works without global agreement,' she said. 'And we see from polling that people are extremely worried about climate change. Heavily polluting sectors should be taxed more than cleaner parts of the economy.' Among the likely flashpoints in the shipping levy discussions are the questions of how the proceeds from the levy should be spent, and the level at which it should be set. Some within the shipping industry want all the revenues to be devoted to helping countries and companies move to lower-CO2 fuels and vessels. But many poor developing countries vehemently oppose this, arguing that the revenues should be considered as climate finance, to help them cut their greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the effects of extreme weather. In a proposal submitted in January, the International Chamber of Shipping and countries including the UK and Japan, as well as the EU, suggested the levy should be set between $18.75 (£14.95) and $150 (£120) per tonne of CO2. Even the upper end of the scale is likely to be the minimum needed to encourage real change in shipping practices, according to Maggs. The five-day negotiating session at the IMO headquarters in London, which ends on Friday, will be followed by another round of talks in March, before a decision is due to be taken in April. Talks on climate issues at the IMO have a history of dragging on. It was originally hoped that the levy would be agreed, after years of talks, in the summer of 2023, but that round failed – and it took most of the past two decades to force countries and their shipping industries to accept the need for mandatory CO2 reductions. As well as the carbon levy, the talks will cover a 'carbon intensity indicator', fuel standards and energy efficiency. These are also essential for reducing the CO2 output of the shipping industry, which accounts for about 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions. In part because of the way that shipping contracts are drawn up, ships tend to get to ports as quickly as possible, even if they know there is no berth ready for them, in which case they linger near the ports until ready. This 'go fast and wait' strategy is wasteful of fuel, and produces far more CO2 than necessary – a reduction of 10% in speed would equate to a 20% cut in emissions, according to Maggs. Agreeing on CO2 targets and efficiency measures could make a vast difference in the short term, he said. 'It's a very potent way to bring emissions down quickly.'
