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OPINION

Where is the money?

Architect and construction entrepreneur. President of the Federation of Industries of the State of Rondônia, he also presides over the Ação Pró-Amazônia, an association that brings together the nine federations of industries in the states of the Legal Amazon. CEO of Instituto Amazônia+21, aimed at promoting sustainable business in the Amazon.

Marcelo Thomé

Translation by Silvia Benchimol, Ewerton Branco, Lucas A. Oliveira e M. Annarry Tavares

19/08/2022

We need 100 billion dollars yearly. In a rough monetary conversion, It means something around 480 billion reais, every 12 months. The amount seems stratospheric, but it is just reasonable if humanity is to stand up against climate changes. At COP 26, in Glasgow - Scotland, the world leaders decided to strengthen the Paris Agreement, signed in 2015 by 175 countries. The compromise is to do everything possible to hold the rise of the planet’s average temperature at less than 2 degrees centigrade, when compared to the pre-industrial levels, aiming at 1,5 degrees as the desired goal.

In addition to keeping strict control of the promise to lessen the carbon emissions until 2030, COP 26 also stressed the tone insisting upon results towards minimizing methane emissions and decreasing deforestation levels. It is evident that Brazil, with its vast tropical forests, draws attention at this moment. The Brazilian Government took on bold goals concerning the reduction of carbon and methane emissions, as well as of deforestation, including zeroing logging activities until 2028.

The pacts and compromises signed during the COP 26 reached Brazil, and specially  Amazon, as a hopeful gust of wind. We have committed to the conservation of the Amazonian biome and we need money to keep our forests standing. Brazil is the country with the greater vocation for green economy and the Amazon contains 15% of the planet’s biodiversity.

The decision of investing 100 billion a year on the fight against climate changes, having the richest nations on the control of this cash flow, cannot fail to include investment opportunities in Brazilian biomes, creating sustainable business and revolutionizing national industry under the ESG, with the effective practices of environmental, social and governance values.

But time never stops, and we are 10 months away from COP 26, with our memories from Glasgow turning into real concerns about the ineffectiveness of the decisions announced in the conference. Global leaders need to awake to the need of ensuring celerity in moving financial resources to fight the causes of global warming, which is as urgent as the climate crises itself. It is necessary to make sure such resources effectively get to the communities, enterprises and institutions capable of producing positive impacts in forests and all biomes on the planet.

The concern aggravates when we realize that, in 2009, COP 15, based in Copenhagen-Denmark, referred to an annual financial support of 100 billion to help countries of the South  fight local global warming causes. Although OCDC publicized that such investments achieved 79,6 billion in 2019, the president of COP 26, the British politician Alok Sharma, affirmed in Glasglow that the figures for 2020 were unknown, suggesting "nearly convict that the goal had not been achieved". Sharma said he hoped the goal would be met by 2023.

Unfortunately, there is little transparency, and it should not be so difficult to know how the amount of 100 billion dollars is being spent. COP 27 is scheduled for next November in Sharm Sheikk-Egypt. It's about time for a conference to bring clarity about the flows of climate financing, allowing a glimpse on the effectively and directly applied resources in critical regions, such as Amazon.