Bolsonaro Requested Not To Hold Climate Summit In Brazil

President-elect and future ministers disagree over the importance of following the Paris Agreement

José Marques Talita Fernandes
São Paulo and Brasília

Brazil's withdrawal from consideration to host COP-25, the UN summit that will negotiate the implementation of the Paris Agreement, caused disagreements between president-elect Jair Bolsonaro and two future ministers.

It was a given that Brazil would host the summit, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the withdrawal on Tuesday (27th).

On Wednesday (28th) however, future Chief of Staff Onyx Lorenzoni said, while standing next to Bolsonaro, that the transition team "had nothing to do with it," only to be interrupted by the president-elect.

"I had a hand in this decision. I said to the future minister [Ernesto Araújo, nominated for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs] that we should avoid hosting this event here in Brazil. I need you to help us because the 'Triple-A' is at stake in this agreement," Bolsonaro said.

The "Triple-A," according to the president-elect, would be the area in the South American continent that contains the Andes mountain range, the Amazon rainforest, and the Atlantic Ocean. The Paris agreement, says Bolsonaro, would risk Brazilian sovereignty over the area. But the deal contains no mention of the term Triple-A. 

Bolsonaro also said to be concerned with the costs of hosting the summit.

However, as Folha previously reported, the summit's budget has been decided and accounted for since October, according to senior officers from the Ministry of Environment.

The newly nominated Minister of Tourism, Marcelo Álvaro Antônio (PSL-MG) said that the COP-25 is very important. When asked about Bolsonaro's opinion on the matter, Álvaro Antônio hesitated.

The COP-24 summit starts next week, in Katowice, Poland.

Translated by NATASHA MADOV
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