Global energy transition 'becomes more difficult without Brazil'
The Secretary General of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Australian John Denton, has been in Brazil since last week for meetings with businesspeople and, earlier this week, with members of the ministries of Foreign Affairs, Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, and Environment.The Paris-based ICC is a century-old institution representing more than 45 million businesses in over 100 countries. Mr. Denton has a strong opinion when it comes to climate action and trade. He sees similarities between Brazil and Australia, and how companies in both countries have felt the negative impacts of governments that have not been well aligned with the climate agenda.He highlights Brazil’s role. "If Brazil does not align with action on climate, then the prospects of the global world having an orderly transition are diminished," he said. And he sees no chance for this agenda to succeed unless governments and private-sector companies are in it together.When it comes to the restrictions the European Union is preparing to impose on commodities linked to deforestation (rules that will affect Brazil), Mr. Denton says it is wrong to see this discussion as a veiled form of protectionism on the part of the Europeans. And that countries like Brazil and Indonesia should count on the help of rich nations to raise the standards of deforestation control. Read below the main excerpts from Mr. Denton’s interview with Valor:Valor: In the past few years, Brazil was on the spot because of the records in deforestation. Has it somehow damaged the reputation abroad of companies based in Brazil and of products made in Brazil?John Denton: I’ll give you some context. When you talk about the challenges to potentially the way in which the world perceives Brazil, and it’s actually been climate, that’s actually a very similar environment that the Australians have been in recently. And so it’s interesting. There’s a new government in Australia, and that new government has decided to forcefully reengage in action on climate and forcibly reengage on the pursuit of net zero. Because there is no doubt that the business community in Australia was concerned that Australia was seen as lagging behind and not enabling the smooth transition toward net zero. And so that’s changed. And of course, there’s something that’s paralleled in many respects the arrival of President Lula and his election and the changed perspective that the Lula administration brings to Brazil’s engagement in global climate action. And I think in many respects, that’s similar to what’s happened in Australia, where the business community felt the risk of disengagement from a lot of value chains and investment patterns because the actual policy settings in Australia were not as supportive of action for the energy transition. And I think that’s similar in Brazil. And clearly, there’s an opportunity now. One thing we’ll be talking about with the government is about ensuring there is this constructive engagement on a global basis.Valor: What role Brazil should have in the context of the energy transition?Mr. Delton: I actually think Brazil, like...
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