How Brazil Plans to Accelerate the Global Shift Away From Fossil Fuels

Detailed summary

Brazil has launched voluntary global roadmaps to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels and combat deforestation, although critics warn that the plans lack specific implementation deadlines.

Felicity Bradstock is a writer and journalist based in Mexico City. She writes for energy websites and covers several other industries, as well as writing…

Brazil has launched two roadmaps to encourage other countries around the globe to accelerate the phasing out of fossil fuels and plan for a green transition. The roadmaps offer broad frameworks to encourage countries to develop their own, more specific, national climate and energy plans.

Brazil, the host of last year’s UN COP30 climate summit, announced the launch of its roadmaps in early November, ahead of COP31, which is being held in Turkey from 9th to 20th November. This follows the win of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the October general election for his fourth term in office over his right-wing challenger Flávio Bolsonaro. Lula has long championed green energy, and his electoral victory was seen by environmentalists as a win for Brazil’s rainforest and the broader climate landscape.

The roadmaps aim to demonstrate to other governments that it is possible to achieve economic growth and lift people out of poverty, while also reducing dependence on fossil fuels. André Corrêa do Lago, Brazil’s president of the COP30 summit, said the launch of the roadmaps aims to shift the dynamic of previous climate conferences toward implementing already agreed-upon targets rather than negotiating global agreements to tackle the climate crisis.

Corrêa do Lago said, “They are documents of implementation”, adding, “There is a different group of people that negotiate, and that implement. The problem we’ve had at many COPs is to think that the same people who negotiate might also need to coordinate the implementation – this is not the case.” He suggested that the roadmaps should be used by transportation, energy, and infrastructure ministries to establish national implementation plans.

The Brazilian roadmaps include several recommendations that countries can choose whether to adopt when creating national climate legislation.

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