Brazil’s 2050 Climate Neutrality Goal is an Important Gesture, but it Contradicts Climate Actions from the Administration

WRI Brasil evaluates President Jair Bolsonaro's announcement to advance Brazil's climate neutrality goal to 2050. While acknowledging the gesture, the statement argues that the 2030 emission targets are less ambitious in absolute terms due to base-year adjustments and that the promises of zero illegal deforestation by 2030 contradict the administration's recent relaxation of law enforcement and removal of such targets from the 2020 NDC.

• President Jair Bolsonaro announced that Brazil will aim for climate neutrality by 2050, accelerating the previous target of 2060. WRI Brasil notes that this goal must be formalized in an updated NDC submitted to the UNFCCC and should not be conditional on external support.
• Although Brazil reaffirmed its NDC targets to reduce GHG emissions by 37% by 2025 and 43% by 2030, these are considered less ambitious in absolute terms because of an adjustment to the 2005 base year emissions. This adjustment increases the expected 2030 emissions by 400 MtCO2e; to maintain the original 2015 level of ambition, the target would need to be a 57% reduction.
• The administration committed to zero illegal deforestation by 2030 and increased funding for law enforcement. However, WRI Brasil points out that this commitment was removed from the December 2020 NDC and that effective command and control measures were relaxed by the current administration without new replacements being implemented.
• The proposed roadmap for mitigation includes the full implementation of the Forest Code, investments in bioeconomy and land governance, and the use of carbon markets and payments for ecosystem services as critical financial mechanisms.

APA

Genin, C. (2021). Brazil’s 2050 Climate Neutrality Goal is an Important Gesture, but it Contradicts Climate Actions from the Administration. World Resources Institute. https://www.wri.org/news/statement-brazils-2050-climate-neutrality-goal-important-gesture-it-contradicts-climate

Chicago

Genin, Carolina. Brazil’s 2050 Climate Neutrality Goal is an Important Gesture, but it Contradicts Climate Actions from the Administration. World Resources Institute, 2021. https://www.wri.org/news/statement-brazils-2050-climate-neutrality-goal-important-gesture-it-contradicts-climate.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Genin |first1=Carolina |title=Brazil’s 2050 Climate Neutrality Goal is an Important Gesture, but it Contradicts Climate Actions from the Administration |publisher=World Resources Institute |date=23 April 2021 |url=https://www.wri.org/news/statement-brazils-2050-climate-neutrality-goal-important-gesture-it-contradicts-climate |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{genin2021brazils, author = {Genin, Carolina}, title = {{Brazil’s 2050 Climate Neutrality Goal is an Important Gesture, but it Contradicts Climate Actions from the Administration}}, publisher = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2021}, month = apr, url = {https://www.wri.org/news/statement-brazils-2050-climate-neutrality-goal-important-gesture-it-contradicts-climate}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }