Newly-published national climate commitments from Brazil and the UK look good on paper, but they won’t “move the needle” until they are turned into actions, the World Resources Institute (WRI) has said.
Melanie Robinson, global director of climate, economics and finance at the World Resources Institute was commenting following the announcement by Brazil that it was committing to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 59% to 67% by 2035, relative to 2005 levels, as part of its new Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC).
Brazilian vice president Geraldo Alckmin (pictured second from right) heads up the country’s delegation at COP29 in Baku, where the new climate commitment, which enables Brazil to ‘advance towards climate neutrality by 2050’, was announced.
Clean energy transition
Separately, the UK, whose prime minister Keir Starmer is also at COP29, said that it was keen to ‘lead the world in the pro-growth clean energy transition’, with a pledge to cut emissions by 81% compared with 1990 levels by 2035.
The UK is also implementing a Clean Industry Bonus to encourage investment in sustainable energy, lifting the ban on offshore wind farms in England, announcing a significant investment in solar energy, and launching Great British Energy, a new, publicly owned, clean energy company.
The UAE, which hosted COP28 last year, has also revealed details of its NDC commitments, which have been criticised by some environmental groups – 350.org called the Emirates’ pledge a ‘greenwashing exercise’.
Climate targets
“The UK, Brazil, and the UAE are the first major emitters to put forward new national climate commitments, which are the main vehicle for countries to collectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions and avoid catastrophic climate impacts,” commented WRI’s Robinson. “Encouragingly, these three nations’ new climate targets could put them on a path to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 if their highest ambitions are realised.
“All major emitters’ climate plans should at the absolute minimum be aligned with their own net-zero goals.
“But while these initial 2035 targets look good on paper, they won’t move the needle unless countries take bold and immediate steps to turn them into action. The true measure of progress will be whether countries back up their promises with transformative policies and investments that embed climate action at the core of their economic strategies.”
As Robinson explained, the Global Stocktake established at COP28 in Dubai laid out “clear objectives” in terms of transitioning away from fossil fuels, scaling up renewables and energy efficiency, cutting transport emissions, and protecting and restoring forests.
“To meet the scale of the climate crisis, countries must clearly reflect these sectoral goals in their national climate commitments – including shifting rapidly away from the use and production of fossil fuels,” she added. [Photo: Ricardo Stuckert/Secom-PR]
