WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY AND COP30
June 5th is World Environment Day, a date established by the United Nations (UN) during the Stockholm Conference in Sweden in 1972. The goal is to alert the world to the importance of preserving natural resources and, now more than ever, to the need to curb the advance of global warming.
The states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul are directly linked to this discussion due to their agricultural and livestock production, a notorious producer of carbon dioxide, and the need to protect the Pantanal, a biome located in both states.
"The Pantanal is the largest wetland area on planet Earth. The Pantanal is water, and the dynamics of the Pantanal's waters bring its biodiversity. However, the Pantanal is threatened by global climate change and by changes like the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest and the Cerrado, which also bring water to the Pantanal. We hope that COP30* will promote discussions, debates, cooperation, and an agenda that can minimize these impacts and bring solutions for the Pantanal, for life in the Pantanal, and for us, the Pantaneiros," said the adjunct professor at the State University of Mato Grosso, who holds a post-doctorate in Limnology of Tropical Wetlands, Carolina Joana da Silva.
The 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) will be held from November 10 to 21 in Belém, Pará, in northern Brazil. It's an annual gathering of world leaders, scientists, NGOs, and civil society representatives from 190 countries.
For Leonardo Gomes, executive director of SOS Pantanal, holding the conference in Brazil brings two main opportunities for the Pantanal and the Upper Paraguay River basin.
"Firstly, it's the holding of thematic sessions on the biome, which is the largest tropical flooded plain on the planet. In fact, Pantanal Day occurs during the COP, on November 12th. So, there's the possibility for us to discuss the Pantanal in depth and position the biome as a priority for conservation in Brazil. And the second is precisely the possibility of agreements and partnerships for fundraising, directing international resources for the biome's conservation. We already have instruments for the legality and management of international funds that will contribute to the conservation of the Pantanal," he stated.
And regarding the search for these international resources, Alice Thuault the executive director of the Mato Grosso Center for Life Institute (ICV) reminds us that COP30 is not just about Brazil. But that the country is part of the group that needs to reduce carbon emissions.
"In terms of Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, and Brazil's position, I think it's good to remember that in this greenhouse gas emission reduction equation, Brazil has a lot to reduce in deforestation, because deforestation accounts for about 50% of Brazil's emissions. There are also agricultural emissions. So, this effort just needs to be discussed. My expectation is that Brazil can show a new reduction in deforestation, that Brazil can show it's a country where solutions and innovations are created, both for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and for adapting to climate change. Brazil needs to demonstrate that it can combat fires, that it can adapt to situations of drought, of water scarcity. It will be important throughout the year to manage the challenges of climate change to be able to show the world that Brazil is a country that truly adapts and can reduce climate change in its territory."
The topics to be discussed at COP30 are:
- Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions
- Adaptation to climate change
- Climate financing for developing countries
- Renewable energy technologies and low-carbon solutions
- Forest and biodiversity preservation
- Climate justice and the social impacts of climate change
COP30 continues the Paris Agreement, signed at COP21, and the discussions of previous COPs. The goals of limiting the global temperature increase to 1.5°C and climate financing commitments will be central topics for monitoring progress since COP29 and accelerating future actions.
The state secretary of environment of Mato Grosso do Sul, Jaime Verruck, lamented the United States' withdrawal from the discussion and financing bloc. But he noted that Europe, China, and Japan could fill this void.
He sees a great opportunity to attract these resources by presenting results achieved with the change in culture.
"The major activity that is truly criticized worldwide is agriculture and livestock. So we have a good opportunity to explain to the world how Brazilian agriculture is done, how we are working on regenerative agriculture, and how Brazilian livestock is also adapting to new technologies so that we can have a highly competitive economic activity with a concept of sustainability."
He concludes by stating that federal and state governments need to include the issue of climate change in their budgets for efficient environmental protection projects.