Brazil is expected to announce revised climate targets this week, as President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva strengthens a prior pledge made by his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro, government officials with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
Lula is expected to speak on Wednesday at a Climate Ambition Summit called by the United Nations secretary general, where “in principle” he would announce the revised target, one Brazilian official said.
The country will institute an annual cap of 1.32 gigatonnes of greenhouse gas emissions by 2025, equivalent to a 50% reduction from 2005, said a second Brazilian official, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media ahead of the announcement.
Brazil intends to cap 2030 emissions at 1.20 gigatonnes of greenhouse gas, a reduction of 53% compared to 2005, the source said. Brazil’s new climate change targets would be more ambitious than the United States, which has pledged to cut emissions by 50-52% by 2030, also compared to 2005.
The person said that capping the emissions in gigatonnes would bring clarity and put the new target on a par with Brazil’s original 2015 target before Bolsonaro laid out new targets.
Brazil’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Lula dedicated a section of his speech to climate change on Tuesday at the United Nations General Assembly.
“The vulnerable populations of the Global South are most affected by the losses and damages caused by climate change,” Lula said.
