SAO PAULO (AP) – Environment Ministers of the Group of 20 The countries agreed on Thursday to support and recognized the creation of financing sources for ecosystem services Brazil proposal to establish a forest conservation trust fund.
The Brazilian initiative, known as the Tropical Forests Forever Facility, would reward tropical forest lands for protecting critical biomes.
Unlike the Amazon Fundwhich rewards Brazil if it succeeds in reducing deforestation, the initiative would benefit all tropical forest countries on a protected area basis, paying local and indigenous communities for maintaining ecosystems that “benefit everyone ”, João Paulo Capobianco, Executive Secretary of the Brazilian Minister of Foreign Affairs. the Environment, journalists said after the ministers’ meeting.
Environment ministers from major rich and developing countries met this week in Rio de Janeiro for four-day meetings to discuss climate change and sustainability. The topic is one of Brazil’s priorities as the country holds the G20 presidency until the end of the year and heads of state meet in Rio next month.
In recent days, environment ministers discussed efforts to tackle climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental degradation. They also assessed public and private financing strategies to support climate change adaptation, transition policies and disproportionate impacts on vulnerable populations, Brazilian Environment Minister Marina Silva said in an opening statement at Thursday’s meeting.
“We have no time to waste and we cannot leave anyone behind,” Silva said. She spoke about extreme events that have affected her own country this year, including one deadly flooding in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul And a historic drought which have contributed to the spread of massive forest fires across the country.
“In the Amazon, Cerrado and Pantanal biomes, record drought is isolating communities and cities and causing wildfires of enormous proportions,” Silva said. “The situation is no different globally and shows in three dimensions the damage and suffering that average temperatures of 1.5°C bring. (2.7°F) above pre-industrial levels is already causing a large portion of humanity.”
The statement emphasized scaling up mitigation and adaptation efforts. It also reiterated the signatory ministers’ support for the Paris Agreementwhich aims to limit global warming to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels. Other areas of focus included oceans, waste reduction, circular economy and plastic pollution.
On November 18 and 19, heads of state will assess the proposals developed by their proxies in the run-up to their meeting.
The Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has placed issues affecting developing countries – such as reducing inequality and reforming multilateral institutions – at the heart of the country’s G20 presidency.
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