Trade disputes, US exit from Paris accord making climate action tougher: Brazil

New Delhi, Mar 6 (PTI) Geopolitical developments like the US leaving the Paris Agreement and trade disputes are weakening trust among countries and making climate action more difficult, Brazil said on Thursday as it prepares to host this year's UN climate conference in Belem.

Brazil's Environment and Climate Minister Marina Silva, who was in India to attend TERI's World Sustainable Development Summit, told journalists that while multilateralism is struggling to fully address global challenges, it remains the only viable path forward.

She also acknowledged that the US decision to pull out of the Paris Agreement "does influence to a certain extent" the goals Brazil has set for COP30.

"We do have a very challenging confluence of multiple factors that are worrisome for climate action in general. This increasingly complex geopolitical context -- wars in different regions or countries, trade disputes, tariffs, and technology disputes -- may all impact climate progress. They may drain resources and also hamper confidence and trust among parties. So, we have a triple negative effect because the less action we see, the less money we see, resulting in less cooperation across countries," she said.

US President Donald Trump has initiated a tariff war by imposing steep duties on imports from China, the European Union, Canada, Mexico and other major economies, triggering retaliatory measures. Experts say this trade conflict is straining global cooperation and diverting government attention and financial resources away from climate challenges.

The minister warned that short-term trade protectionism may bring temporary gains but, in the long run, leads to inflation, economic instability and food insecurity.

"Even though people may be ideologically aligned with such ideas, they may be affected in the long term. They will not be supportive if their houses are burned by wildfires, if they have impacts on their food security because of inflation of food prices." she said.

She stressed that two major global challenges -- health and climate change -- cannot be solved without international cooperation.

There is growing skepticism about multilateral efforts, particularly in climate negotiations, following the disappointing outcome at COP29 in Baku, the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement and Argentina signalling its intention to do the same.

"Baku represented a disappointment... This climate of disappointment after the COP was due to developed countries not fulfilling their commitments, which leads, on one hand, to a loss of credibility and a deficit of implementation. This is now even more difficult to handle because it also results in a deficit of confidence," Silva said in response to a question from PTI.

Developed countries, historically responsible for most of the greenhouse gas emissions driving climate change, were required to deliver a new and ambitious financial package to support climate action in the developing world at the UN climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, last year.

However, they offered a paltry USD 300 billion by 2035, a mere fraction of at least USD 1.3 trillion needed annually from 2025, leaving many developing countries deeply disappointed.

Even the USD 300 billion per year agreed upon in Baku cannot be taken "for granted", Silva warned, adding that COP30 would focus on a forward-looking, detailed roadmap to achieve the USD 1.3 trillion in climate finance, including both public and private sources of funding.

Asked whether the US decision to leave the Paris Agreement would affect COP30, Silva said: "We cannot be denialists to not acknowledge that." She said that the US, being the world's second-largest GHG emitter and a major economic and technological power, "does influence" Brazil's COP30 goals "to some extent".

However, she stressed that this would not deter Brazil's climate efforts. "On the contrary, we will strengthen climate action and fight inequality while pushing for stronger means of implementation." The minister said that multilateralism is not being able to "fully handle" global challenges. However, "there's no effective solution outside multilateralism (either). Multilateralism is the only way forward," she said, stressing that Brazil remains committed to strengthening it.

Calling for reforms in the UN system for global governance, Silva said changes are needed to make it more effective and adaptable. "Our reality is not static. We need swifter processes and swifter structures to deal with climate change." On Wednesday, her Indian counterpart, Bhupender Yadav, had said the current multilateral system is failing to tackle global challenges like climate change and called for urgent reforms in global governance to ensure that equity, justice and action remain central to climate negotiations. PTI GVS TIR

Source: PTI