On Monday (24), the Brazilian Business Council for Sustainable Development (CEBDS) participated in the preparatory meeting for the Conference of the Parties (COP22), at the Itamaraty Palace, in Brasília. The focus of the meeting was the negotiations that will be on the agenda during the meeting and the measures that will be taken by Brazil to comply with the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
According to Ambassador José Antônio Marcondes de Carvalho, one of the challenges of COP22 will be to dispel the idea that its importance is secondary. “This is a mistaken view. The political moment is right to make progress in this regard. We expect great results and the ministries have been working in a cohesive and coordinated manner to advance the implementation of the necessary mechanisms. In this sense, having the participation of civil society has been both stimulating and challenging,” he explained.
The entry into force of the Paris Agreement was one of the highlights of the meeting. “The sense of urgency was evident with the rapid ratification process in Brazil and this continues for the implementation of the NDC,” said Marcondes.
The Director of Climate Change and Environmental Quality at the Ministry of the Environment (MMA), Adriano Santhiago, pointed out that the implementation of the Brazilian NDC is already underway and cited Law No. 13,263/2016, which establishes an increase in the share of biodiesel in diesel oil, which will reach 10% by 2019. Santhiago stressed that Brazil still needs to establish a strategy for implementing its contributions and must count on the support of civil society to do so. The initial documents are expected to be ready by the end of this year and discussions with society will be held throughout the first half of 2017. The drafted document will then be submitted for public consultation, which should take place in mid-August.
On the international stage, Brazil's position has been to maintain pressure on the progress of the work foreseen in the Paris Agreement. "We must continue working with the same sense of urgency. The concentration of greenhouse gas molecules in the atmosphere is increasing more and more. The real world requires urgency, action, and Paris must move forward, we must move forward and regulate this entire work program that we have ahead of us," said Ambassador Marcondes.
CEBDS technical advisor Lilia Caiado, who was present at the meeting at Itamaraty, highlighted that the rapid progress of the Paris Agreement around the world has increased the importance of COP 22. “Almost no one imagined that the Agreement would already have come into force in Marrakesh. This has intensified discussions about the measures that will be implemented to achieve the goals set out in the Agreement and also about how to monitor these measures,” she pointed out. Among the issues under discussion, for example, is the creation of an instrument capable of measuring the evolution of resources allocated to climate finance.
CEBDS is carrying out a series of actions to prepare the business sector to participate in COP 22, where there will be a Brazilian space for meetings and events. Among these activities are briefing meetings, where the federal government will listen to civil society on the issues that will be addressed at the conference.
