Agriculture part of the answer to climate change: Minister

Brazil’s Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, and Supply Tereza Cristina on Monday (Nov. 1) stated that sustainable agriculture is part of the solution to a double challenge—climate change and food security.

According to the minister, Brazil’s goal until 2030 is to disseminate low-carbon technology to over 72 million hectares of farmland with no need to convert new areas to productive activity. This brings the estimated slash in emissions to over 1 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent.

“The transformative potential of low-carbon agriculture is enormous. We want to share this experience with countries in a similar reality. Just by disseminating the best practices to all producers we can witness the positive impact that the production of food, fibers, and bioenergy may have,” the minister said during Brazil’s opening session at COP26, at the headquarters of the National Confederation of Industry, in Brasília, this Sunday (Nov. 1).

Environmental recovery

In Glasgow, in the panel Public Policies for the Forest Preservation and Recovery, João Adrien, director for Environmental Regularization of the Brazilian Forest Service, said that the estimated recovery in rural areas under the Environmental Regularization Program is 34.4 million hectares of legal reserves in the coming 20 years.

New goals

Also on Monday, Environment Minister Joaquim Leite unveiled a new reduction target for greenhouse effect gas emissions.

“We presented today a new, more ambitious climate target, going from 43 to 50 percent by 2030, and carbon neutrality by 2050, which should be made formal at COP26,” he said. Leite attended the summit’s opening ceremony through a simultaneous broadcast at an event held in Brasília, at the National Confederation of Industry (CNI).