Possibility of Ratification by 2018: High
Like many other countries, Brazil has yet to ratify the Paris Agreement and submit its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) plan to Congress. Brazil currently is in the midst of its most serious and dramatic political and economic crisis, including the removal and proposed impeachment of the President-Dilma Rousseff.
The Brazilian constitution gives Congress the ability to approve treaties, which then go to the President for signature. The Brazilian Congress has a strong environmental block, which favors ratifying the Paris Agreement. However, the acting President Michel Temer has appointed a conservative cabinet, which may not be that enthusiastic about committing to ambitious greenhouse gas emission reduction pledge that Brazil made to the new Paris Agreement.
However, on July 12 Brazil took a step forward in the ratification of the Paris Agreement the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies approved in plenary unanimously the legislative decree project by which Brazil adheres to the Paris climate agreement. The proposal now goes to the Senate.
“We consider that this agreement serves the national interest and vote for approval,” said the congressman Pedro Vilela, who reported the project on the Foreign Relations Committee, to open discussion of the text in an extraordinary Chamber session that It extended into the night. “There is scientific evidence increasing that recent changes are not natural variations, related to human activities,” said another congressman Luiz Freitas Filho, rapporteur in the Committee on the Environment.
The project was being processed on an emergency basis in the Congress. Now the decision goes to Senate and If approved, goes to presidential approval and may become domestic law in Brazil before COP22, the Marrakesh climate conference in November. Everything indicates that Brazilian senate will follow the recommendation of the deputies.
“Now it’s a matter of time until the final ratification by the Senate,” said Carlos Rittl, executive secretary of the Brazilian Climate Observatory (www.observatoriodoclima.eco.br) “The big step that comes next will need to be given by the government – to transform our economy on the path of progressive elimination of greenhouse gases. And for that, Brazil has opportunities: Zero deforestation, restoring forests, make more efficient farming and use more sun, wind and biomass to generate energy.”
The movement of parliamentary puts Brazil closer to the group of countries that want to see the climate agreement in place as early as next year, three years ahead of schedule as you can read more on Climate Scorecard website.
Submitted by Climate Scorecard Country Manager Ciro Moura
Learn more:
http://www.observatoriodoclima.eco.br/camara-aprova-ratificacao-do-acordo-de-paris/