The Brazilian Government gave a strong signal arriving at the World Economic Forum, in Davos, represented by Minister Fernando Haddad and Minister Marina Silva. The innovative presence of the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, pari passu - or "with an equal step" - with the Ministry of Finance, echoes the message of extraordinary repercussion caused by the presence of Lula, still as president-elect, at COP 27, in Egypt, last November.
Such gestures express Brazil's willingness to become a protagonist in a low-carbon global economy. The message goes out to the world, but it is up to us, Brazilians - especially business players - to embrace the opportunity to make this green light from the Government the color of a new national economy, sustainable and resilient to face the hard challenges that have been announced, including an "extremely probable" global recession, as announced among the cold of the Forum.
In her first speech in Davos, Minister Marina Silva demanded from the rich nations the 100 billion dollars a year for developing countries to fight global warming. The promise, signed in the Paris Agreement in 2015, is already beginning to smell like a universal default, as it threatens life on the face of the Earth. Unlocking climate finance, therefore, is as necessary as putting an end to the burning and deforestation of the Amazon.
The minister highlights the importance of resources for mitigation and adaptation actions. As we know, mitigation is about reducing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere; and adaptation is about reducing the effects of global warming. But the more equal steps taken by Marina and Haddad in Davos make us believe that the government of president Lula should look at sustainable business with the same urgency as mitigation and adaptation, so as to structure the productive base of the national green economy, with due prominence for the Amazon.
Unlocking climate finance should be more than passing on resources to developing country governments. It will be effective when its money reaches the communities that take care of biomes and biodiversity. The Climate Fund, the one of the 100 billion dollars charged by the Minister, can finance sustainable productive activities. Likewise, the Biodiversity Fund, created at COP15. Then it would be interesting to think how other financial mechanisms directed to the environment, such as the Amazon Fund itself, capitalized by countries like Norway and Germany, can also reserve resources for sustainable businesses that generate employment, income, and quality of life for those who live in the Amazon or on the floor of other biomes that we need to conserve.
In such an unequal world, even more so in a country as unequal as ours, opportunities and inclusion must be created, otherwise the frustration of human needs and local expectations may undermine the global mobilization to contain climate catastrophes.
Pari passu with Davos, at another prestigious world event, the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week 2023, the Executive Vice President of the European Commission and driver of the European Green Deal, Frans Timmermans, stated almost prophetically: “If people can't make it to the end of the month, the end of the planet is not their main concern.”
