Youth coalition files lawsuit against Salles for “trick” in carbon reduction goals

In an unprecedented move, a youth group sued Minister Ricardo Salles and former Foreign Minister Ernesto Araújo due to the climate goals presented by the Ministry of the Environment to the Paris (MMA) Agreement at the end of 2020.

Contrary to what MMA claimed, the “new goals” of reducing by 43% the emission of greenhouse gases by 2030, actually allows the country to emit 400 million tons of greenhouse gases more than expected, according to an analysis by the Climate Observatory (OC). The “trick”, as the maneuver is being called in the press, occurs because the ministry used the same reduction percentage established five years ago, without considering the change in the calculation basis used.

According to Paulo Busse, the lawyer of the OC that represents the young activists, the goal of the lawsuit “is to make Brazil correct the current climate goal, which is lower than the original one and assume a more ambitious commitment that is faithful to the Paris Agreement and the Federal Constitution.”