Brazil Is Under Pressure to Remove Coal Energy Incentives

11/09/2016 - 11h48

The possibility of Brazil providing R$ 5 billion (US$ 1.5 billion) in incentives to coal energy, if President Michel Temer does not veto Provisional Measure 735, is causing reaction among participants of the UN Climate Change Conference, COP22

The subsidy was included in article 20 of the Provisional Measure, which deals extensively with privatizations in the electric sector.

On Tuesday (8), the newsletter circulating in the Marrakesh negotiations, endorsed by more than 1,000 organizations of the Climate Action Network, includes an article critical of Brazil.

Under the title "First rule when you are in a hole: stop digging", the text says that at this moment "the world is watching what happens in Brazil and expecting coherence from a country that has all the potential to be one of the first to reach 100% renewable energy".

Folha has learned that, because of the international reaction, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs recommended to the government to veto the article still during the COP, which goes until the 18th of this month.

Although the inclusion of the article in the Provisional Measure 735 does not have clear authorship in the Congress, Brazilian observers point out that the coal industry would have had support from the Ministry of Civil House (Executive Office) for it.

Translated by MARINA DELLA VALLE

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