With just days to go until the February 10 deadline for signatories of the Paris climate accord to unveil their new goals for 2035, major players such as the European Union and China have yet to announce their targets.
Under the accord, countries agreed in 2015 to try to hold warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels — which has already been breached over the past two years.
Europe’s climate monitor said Thursday that last month was the hottest January on record.
Correa do Lago, the Brazilian foreign ministry’s secretary for the environment, said it did not matter if countries took their time to announce their new targets, but they needed to be “as ambitious as possible.”
“They have to be more ambitious than they were before, so that’s a rule, but we want them to be particularly ambitious and… compatible with avoiding a 1.5 increase in temperature.”
Brazil will host the COP30 meeting in the Amazonian city of Belem — the first time the conference will be held in a region considered so crucial to the global climate.
This year’s climate conference will come after US President Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of his country from the Paris accord for a second time and doubled down on the use of fossil fuels.
Correa do Lago said there were still “several ways to talk to the United States” about climate change, such as through the G20 or the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
The UN’s climate chief Simon Stiell, speaking in the Brazilian capital on Thursday, said nations’ self-interest should drive the fight against global warming.
“A country may step back –- but others are already stepping into their place to seize the opportunity, and to reap the massive rewards: stronger economic growth, more jobs, less pollution and far lower health costs, more secure and affordable energy,” said Stiell.
Increasing climate financing
