Staying in Paris Agreement a consensus in Brazil, minister says

Brazil’s Environment Minister Ricardo Salles said today (Jan. 14) there is consensus in the government on having the country stay in the Paris Agreement, which sets targets for the reduction of greenhouse effect gases. During his campaign and also after winning the elections, Jair Bolsonaro often criticized the deal and indicated the country could withdraw from it.

“For now,” Salles said, Brazil remains committed to the deal’s agenda. However, he went on to say, its implementation will take place in such a way as to prevent losses to Brazilian businesses. “There are important point in the deal we want to value, like those that can bring financial resources to the country,” he said after a lunch in São Paulo.

Ricardo Salles - Secretaria de Meio Ambiente de São Paulo/Divulgação

There are sensitive issues in the agreement, he said, like the restriction on land administration and public policies. “We’ll look into these very carefully, because Brazil has its autonomy, like every country, and should be able to take care of its territory according to its interests and priorities,” he said.

National parks

Salles went on to say he plans to speed up bids on national parks for the private enterprise. “The more comprehensive the park bids are, the better—for their conservation, for tourism, for the Brazilian people. So we’ll accelerate the bids for national parks so the private enterprise can explore them, with all guarantees that the environment is preserved.”

A work program has not been devised for that yet, the minister said. However, he mentioned the Iguaçu National Park, in the state of Paraná, as a model.