According to EU Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius and Brazilian Environment Minister Joaquim Leite, their meeting in São Paulo on Saturday 30 April was fruitful.
As part of a tour of Latin America (see EUROPE 12939/3), Mr Sinkevičius concluded his visit to Brazil on Saturday to facilitate the conclusion of an ambitious post-2020 global framework for biodiversity at the fifteenth Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15, Kunming) and to identify ways and means for increased environmental cooperation.
“The EU and Brazil must work more closely together to address our common challenges. I am confident that Brazil can fight deforestation, as it has done in the past, and defend its climate and biodiversity with concrete actions and proper implementation”, said the Commissioner on Twitter.
He had previously met in Manaus (Amazon) with NGOs fighting environmental crime and defending human rights, as well as representatives of indigenous communities.
“Brazil is committed to strengthening partnerships for a new global green agenda”, Mr Leite said, referring to an “excellent meeting”.
Highlighting that the talks focused on “the environmental policies of Jair Bolsonaro’s government to promote a new green economy, such as payments for environmental services”, he said that “our country’s capacity to produce green hydrogen and offshore wind energy is an issue that the EU cannot ignore”.
In cooperation with the Minister of Mines and Energy, Bento Albuquerque, whom Mr Sinkevičius also met, “Brazil is a partner in the search for cost-effective climate and environmental solutions”, Mr Leite assured. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)