UN Climate Summit ended with a letter Brazil has not signed

The Climate Summit held its closing ceremony this Tuesday (Sep 23) at the UN headquarters, in New York, with the commitment to reduce deforestation by half up to 2020 and to end it totally by 2030. The New York Declaration was signed by 150 countries and organizations, among which 28 member states, 35 companies, 16 indigenous groups, and 45 associations from the civil society. Brazil, however, was not among its signatories.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Brazilian government was not invited to participate in the process of drafting the letter, so the country was unable to commit to the goals established. The Ministry further explained that the declation is not an official UN document, and is thus only to be followed by its signatories.

The UN Information Center for Brazil announced that the letter remains open for other countries and organizations interested in signing it. In addition to the fight against deforestation, the document lays down objectives such as the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions over the next six years. The center went on to highlight that the negotiations over the commitments countries should make to combat global warming hold valid up to 2015, when the 21st Conference of the Parties on Climate Change (COP-21) is to take place in Paris.

Leaders and representatives from 125 nations took part in the summit. According to the UN, the gathering has been the biggest one ever held on climate changes. Brazil’s President Dilma Ruosseff said in her speech at the event that the fight against climate changes is not harmful to the economy. “The reducion in the emissions and the adaptation measures should be regarded as a source of wealth, so as to attract investments and launch new actions for sustainable development,” she stated, adding that developed countries should be assigned the bigger responsibility in the struggle against global warming.

*Leandra Leal an Luana Lourenço also contributed to this article.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira