By AFP - Agence France Presse
Brazil will not shy away from fossil fuel issue as COP30 host: Envoy
By Nick Perry
Brazil's climate envoy said on Wednesday that the country will not “shy away” from advocating the phasing out of fossil fuels as host of COP30 next year, even though it is a major oil producer.
Ana Toni told AFP that Brazil wants to stimulate a global “debate” on how to turn the promised phase-out of fossil fuels into action, including through possible taxes on coal, oil and gas.
“This must be a just transition to the end of fossil fuels,” said Toni, Brazil's national secretary for climate change, in an interview on the sidelines of the COP29 summit in Azerbaijan.
“We will never shy away from these critical discussions because it is in our interest.”
COP30 will be the third year in a row that the UN's main climate negotiations will be held in a country that plans to expand domestic fossil fuel production.
Brazil is Latin America's largest oil producer, and its COP30 comes after COP29 in Azerbaijan and last year's COP28 in the United Arab Emirates.
Last week, some high-level climate leaders called for COPs to no longer be held in countries that don't support phasing out their fossil fuel production, the main driver of global warming.
Toni, who has held senior advisory positions at Greenpeace and ActionAid, said that Brazil had always been a climate champion and would continue to “lead by example.”
“We were the first to say: let's end deforestation. We'll do the same with fossil fuels,” said Toni, who is also leading Brazil's delegation at COP29.
“But this agreement needs to be made together with the other countries, and Brazil will play a very, very strong role in pressuring the other countries to do this.”
In a landmark moment, almost 200 countries agreed last year at COP28 to transition away from fossil fuels.
However, the burning of coal, oil, and gas reached record levels in 2024, and efforts to advance the transition away from fossil fuels faced political opposition at this year's COP.
Toni said that Brazil shares “contradictions” similar to those of the United States and Norway, both fossil fuel producers that also advocate cuts in planet-warming gas emissions.
She said Brazil, which plans to host COP30 in the Amazonian city of Belém, was pressing nations to consider how to deal with fossil fuel use through taxes or an end to subsidies.
Ahead of COP30, all nations must present updated plans to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
Last month, the UN said that current national plans fell “far short” of what was needed to avoid the serious consequences of climate change.
Before COP29, the left-wing government of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announced that it would cut emissions more drastically than had been planned.
Climate activists said Brazil didn't go far enough, but Toni said it was the most ambitious plan of any developing country.
“We have nothing to prove to anyone,” she said.
Before COP30, Toni must first help resolve a deadlock at COP29, where she was appointed along with UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, to get a successful financing deal by Friday, when the summit is due to conclude.
She said that failure to reach an agreement on financing energy transitions and adaptations for developing countries could hollow out global climate action just as Brazil prepares to take the reins.
“That's exactly what we don't want to happen. So the success of COP30 depends on the success of a good COP29,” she said.
np/gv
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