https://dailycaller.com/2018/11/30/brazil-un-climate-summit/
By JASON HOPKINS
In what is likely a preview of the incoming administration’s energy agenda, Brazil’s president-elect has declined to host a United Nations conference on climate change.
“Environmental politics can’t muddle with Brazil’s development,” President-elect Jair Bolsonaro said Wednesday of why he withdrew Brazil’s bid to host the 2019 climate change conference. “Today, the economy is almost back on track thanks to agribusiness, and they are suffocated by environmental questions.”
The decision comes as no surprise to people who have been following the conservative politician’s rise to power closely.
Bolsonaro had campaigned on the promise of enacting a number of free market reforms to jumpstart Brazil’s economy — which has suffered stagnant growth for years. A key part of his economic agenda includes developing the country’s agriculture and mining industries in the Amazon. Bolsonaro initially said he would follow U.S. President Donald Trump’s footsteps and pull out of the Paris climate agreement, but he has since walked those comments back amid international pressure.
International leaders are to meet in September 2019 for the U.N. climate summit. The key focus on the meeting will be the implementation of the Paris climate accord and how to effectively reduce the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. So far, the world is not on track to meet carbon reduction targets.
It’s not immediately clear what country will host the event now that Brazil has backed out. Given it is Latin America’s turn to host the summit next year, U.N. officials will see if any other country on the continent can hold the event. If not, the conference will take place in Bonn, Germany.
