BRAZIL’S ASPIRATIONS

Can the Belem, Brazil, of the emerging economies bloc BRICS, stitch together rich (North) and poor (South) countries to shape the future governance of climate change?

- Avilash Roul

Among other substantive agendas, the major focus in Belem is to minimise the deep distrust between developed and developing member countries, which emerged at the Baku climate meeting (COP29) last year. In Brazilian President Lula’s conviction that the ‘COP30 in Belém is the moment of truth and science’. Thus, the world expects that Brazil’s presidency of COP30 to deliver a mandate that will maintain trust in the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, faith in multilateralism, and belief in the COP process itself. Is it achievable?

Some COPs, the highest decision-making body in the UNFCCC, are forgettable, nevertheless important in the three decades of complex climate change negotiations. COP29 is one such in the annals of climate negotiations that will be mentioned when there is criticism against the COP process. An example is that India’s outburst against the agreement and the process through which it was adopted aggravated the criticism against the COPs.