On Monday, Brazilian officials released a new national climate plan that places a high priority on strengthening forest protections as a crucial tactic to lower greenhouse gas emissions.
The new plan looks ahead to 2035, when Brazil is anticipated to have drastically reduced its emissions. The Latin American behemoth hasn’t revised its primary climate change mitigation program since 2008.
The leftist administration of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has demanded a 67% decrease in greenhouse gas emissions from 2005 levels.
According to Brazilian officials, the removal of trees—often to covertly expand agricultural land—is responsible for 40% of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Lula has pledged to reduce deforestation to zero by 2030.
Brazil has been hit by extreme weather disasters in recent years, including floods, fires and droughts, which experts link to climate change.
“We are living through a very serious situation of climate emergency,” Environment and Climate Change Minister Marina Silva told reporters.
Claudio Angelo, of the NGO network Climate Observatory, applauded the new Brazilian plan because it “begins to address the thorny issue of how to finance” its climate targets.
However, the plan falls “far short of delivering the economic transformation needed” in Brazil, when it comes to limiting global warming to 1.5C.
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