The official Brazilian delegation at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP26), which took place in Glasgow during the first fortnight of November, was the largest of any country: 479 members. In parallel, around 40 Brazilian indigenous leaders attended as observers, said to be the largest indigenous delegation to ever attend a COP, and with a more visible presence than in previous years. These two groups came with very different messages, however.
Under President Jair Bolsonaro, who took office in January 2019, Amazon deforestation in Brazil has soared, environmental law enforcement efforts have been hollowed out, and Brazil’s reputation as an important player in international climate fora was shattered. At the COP25 in 2019, then-environment minister Ricardo Salles (2019-2021), a climate sceptic who showed little interest in Amazon conservation, led a belligerent delegation which was widely considered to have obstructed negotiations, notably on regulating carbon markets.
Brazil’s international isolation on climate issues only became more pronounced with the departure of former US president Donald Trump (2017-2021) and the priority his successor, Joe Biden, has given to tackling climate change. Over the course of this year, the Brazilian government began adapting its discourse (if not its actions); Salles was replaced by the less controversial Joaquim Leite in June; and the large Brazilian delegation (which did not include members of civil society or NGOs) went to Scotland at the end of the October with the aim of presenting a greener face to the world.
President Bolsonaro did not attend the conference in Glasgow, merely sending a pre-recorded video message that was played at the summit on 1 November. In it he said that Brazil has “always been part of the solution [in the fight against climate change], not the problem”. This was echoed by Leite in his official speech, delivered on 10 November, in which he listed Brazil’s green credentials – such as its relatively clean energy matrix –, supposed efforts to combat illegal deforestation, and the climate pledges the country announced during the COP26.
These were notably a pledge to cut carbon emissions by 50% by 2030, relative to 2005 levels, and reach carbon neutrality by 2050; to end illegal deforestation by 2028; and support for the US and European Union-led pact to reduce methane emissions. In the latter days of the climate conference, Brazil also played an important role in the negotiations on regulating carbon markets, which resulted in a deal described by Leite as a “Brazilian victory” as the country could become a “big exporter” of carbon credits.
The outcome of the COP26 and Brazil’s role in it have been hailed as a success by the Bolsonaro government. “From the beginning of the conference, the Brazilian government demonstrated to the international community that it concerns itself with the environment and climate, and that it is an active member and part of the global solution to this challenge. It is worth saying that this effort has been months in the making”, reads, apparently without irony, a statement on the environment ministry’s website summarising Brazil’s official participation in the COP26.
While some in Glasgow did celebrate Brazil’s apparent willingness to cooperate as a breakthrough, most viewed the Bolsonaro government’s sudden change of heart with scepticism, even before deforestation figures released in mid-November again laid bare the environmental destruction over which Bolsonaro is presiding (see below). Meanwhile, the Brazilian indigenous people and activists who attended the sidelines of the COP26 told a different story to that presented by government officials.
This year’s COP was widely criticised for being the most exclusive ever, as visa restrictions and coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccination requirements prevented a reported two-thirds of the civil society organisations which usually send representatives from doing so. Brazil appeared to buck that trend, however, with the visible presence of a mostly female indigenous representation, as well as representatives from the Coalizão Negra por Direitos anti-racist group flying the banner for environmental justice. Several environmental organisations hosted discussions at the Brazil Climate Action Hub, a sort of counter-stage to the official pavilion, where the logos of large business and agricultural lobbies loomed large.
Txai Suruí, a 24-year-old activist from the Paiter Suruí indigenous people in the northern state of Rondônia, was the only Brazilian to speak during the COP’s official opening ceremony on 1 November. “Indigenous peoples are on the front line of the climate emergency, and we must be at the centre of the decisions happening here”, Txai Suruí said in English before the world leaders gathered in Glasgow, demanding the end of “false promises” and calling on the world to act now to contain climate change. Her plea for action earned her attacks from Bolsonaro and his following.
- A hostile response
Txai Suruí did not mention the Brazilian government in her speech, but in comments to supporters in Brasília a few days later Bolsonaro attacked her: “They brought an Indian [to Glasgow]…to attack Brazil”, he said. Txai Suruí has since received a wave of racist abuse online, and also reported that a member of the official Brazilian delegation sought to intimidate her after her speech.
Other indigenous leaders such as Sônia Guajajara, a former vice-presidential candidate, and Joênia Wapichana, Brazil’s only indigenous lawmaker, were also in Glasgow, present both at meetings with figures such as US climate czar John Kerry and the UK’s Prince of Wales, and alongside other activists at protests on the streets of the Scottish city.
“The governments have understood that the indigenous hold important power”, Dinamam Tuxá, a coordinator of the Articulação dos Povos Indígenas do Brasil (Apib) indigenous grouping, told French broadcaster RFI, hailing the establishment of a US$1.7bn fund to support indigenous peoples as a “form of recognition”. However, Dinamam Tuxá echoed a disappointment voiced elsewhere: that indigenous communities, considered vital in the fight against environmental destruction, are still not given a seat at the negotiating table.
Also speaking to RFI another Apib leader, Alberto Terena, said that the Brazilian government is far from recognising the importance that indigenous peoples play in conserving forests and protecting the environment. He notably rejected part of Leite’s official speech, in which the environment minister associated the forest with poverty. “Our way of seeing things as a tradition people and an indigenous people is one of richness. If you only see the forest as something that generates profit, then maybe you see poverty”, Terena said.
Deforestation
Preliminary deforestation figures for October, released by the government’s national space research institute (Inpe) on 12 November, showed Amazon deforestation increasing 5% compared with last year to 877km2.
“Emissions happen on the forest floor, not in Glasgow’s plenaries. And the forest floor is telling us that the government does not have the slightest intention of observing the commitments it signed at the COP26,” Márcio Astrini, the executive secretary of the Observatório do Clima network of environmental organisations, denounced.
Consolidated data for the year August 2020-July 2021, presented on 18 November, was even more worrying: annual deforestation increased 22% compared with a year earlier to 13,235km2 – the highest figure since 2006. It appears the government deliberately withheld making these numbers public until after the conclusion of the COP26.