2024-08-23 14:51:48
A view of Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan | Sefer Azeri
Text originally published on the Media Ninja portal, on 8/22/2024
Most of the greenhouse gases emitted into the Earth’s atmosphere come from the burning of oil and its derivatives. Coal and natural gas are also important emitters of these gases, but oil is the most representative icon of the industrial age. Despite the clear and proven damage to the climate, new areas of exploration are being opened in different parts of the world and production and consumption continue to increase.
In November, the UN conference (COP-29) on climate change will meet in Baku, Azerbaijan, to assess compliance with emission reduction targets by countries, which must present their new NDCs, which are volunteers to present their national commitment to that end. Most countries have not met previous targets and the new commitments, even if they are achieved, will not be enough to start a consistent process of reducing global emissions.
Meanwhile, climate change increases. Extreme weather events are more severe and more frequent. Phenomena predicted by science for years to come are already happening. The average temperature on the surface of the Earth is breaking records, the melting of the glaciers is accelerating and the waters of the sea are overheating. Heat waves occur in all parts of the world, reducing the availability of fresh water. People suffer and notice its effects.
DEFECT
More than 80% of global greenhouse gas emissions come from burning fossil fuels, especially oil. Emissions from deforestation and inappropriate land use do not reach 20%. Among the top ten current emitters, only Brazil and Indonesia have deforestation as a major emissions factor. Tropical forests help to remove excess carbon from the atmosphere, but scientists find that they are losing this condition.
Fire in Porto Velho (RO), in 2020 | Bruno Kelly / Amazonia Real
The Amazon has the largest forest carbon stock in the world. Since 2023, deforestation in the region has decreased again, more severely than in other biomes. As a result, Brazil’s emissions also fell again and it is unlikely that other countries are making equivalent reductions. This situation reinforces Brazil’s leading role in international climate negotiations.
This is of great importance, considering that the next UN meeting, COP-30, in November 2025, should be held in Belém (PA). There is a strong expectation from developing forestry countries that access to compensatory resources will be provided by industrialized countries, which are the most industrialized countries in the present and in the past.
PETROLEUM COP
Reducing deforestation helps combat global warming and compensatory resource allocation helps finance sustainable development in forested countries. But they are not enough to reverse the greenhouse effect or prevent it from destroying forests and other natural biomes.
COP-30 will be the first to be held in the Amazon and is expected to strengthen the protection of forests and the financing of projects that promote the reduction of deforestation and forest degradation (REDD). It will also be an opportunity for participants in international climate negotiations to get to know the region.
However, if we truly want to preserve forests and their biodiversity, as well as our own survival and posterity, COP-30 must go far beyond the forest issue. The climate emergency is demanding concrete and immediate measures to reduce the production and consumption of fossil fuels. Without this reduction and, even if deforestation is reduced to zero, the Amazon will not be able to survive.
Therefore, the meeting of Belém, to be the “COP of the forest”, must first be the “COP of oil”. Brazil, steadily reducing deforestation and also an oil producer, has the best conditions to lead an agreement to effectively reduce its production and consumption. The opening of new exploration areas, including in the region at the mouth of the Amazon River, should be subject to the goals and conditions of this agreement.
Petrobrás oil platform in Campos (RJ) | Disclosure of Petrobrás / Agência Brasil
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