The G20 countries committed on Thursday in Brazil to promote “innovative” financial mechanisms to confront the climate emergencyat a time when a wave of record fires hits the Amazon, the largest rainforest in the world.
“Human and environmental losses around the world make clear the urgent need to take greater measures to respond to the new global reality,” says the declaration approved by the environment ministers of the world’s 20 largest economies at the close of a meeting in Rio de Janeiro.
“The impacts of climate change are already being felt around the world, affecting vulnerable regions and countries most severely, with unprecedented flooding, extreme droughts, above-average heat waves and other events that we are not yet fully aware of.” prepared to face,” the text adds.
With 80% of the world populationthe G20 represents about 80% of carbon emissions and 75% of waste generation.
The Brazilian environment minister, Marina Silva, stated that the G20 countries have “a great responsibility” and must “lead the confrontation with the climate crisis.”
Brazil, which this year chairs the G20, was hit by historic floods in the southeast region in May, and is currently going through a wave of record fires fueled by unprecedented droughts.
These extreme events are favored by climate change, according to experts.
The mobilization of financial resources to mitigate global warming has been at the center of the G20 discussions, which will conclude with the summit of heads of state and government on November 18 and 19 in Rio.
“To achieve these goals, we will consider innovative economic tools, such as payments for ecosystem services (…) among others, soil fertility, erosion control, pollination and water supply,” the statement says.
Brazil wants to promote the Tropical Forests Forever Fund (TFFF), a “complex” investment instrument that aspires to be operational next year, when the Brazilian city of Belem hosts the COP30 of the climate.
In mid-September, the G20’s environmental efforts were called into question by environmental organizations, which denounced the group’s lack of commitment to move towards a transition that eliminates the use of fossil energy.
The criticism was based on a draft of the climate declaration that the G20 will present in Washington after a ministerial meeting at the end of October, which omits to mention fossil fuels.
“A G20 statement without even mentioning the transition away from fossil fuels (…) by the 20 most powerful economies on the planet, would create a worrying precedent,” said Maria Victoria Emanuelli, of 350.org.
