Brazil\u2019s environment minister, Marina Silva, has urged all countries to have the courage to address the need for a fossil fuel phaseout, calling the drawing up of a roadmap for it an \u201cethical\u201d response to the climate crisis.<\/p>\n
She emphasised, however, that the process would be voluntary for those governments that wished to participate, and \u201cself-determined\u201d.<\/p>\n
The issue is one of the most controversial at the Cop30<\/a> summit in Brazil, with countries fighting over whether and how such a roadmap can be discussed. As host, Brazil is carefully neutral about what can be on the formal agenda.<\/p>\n Silva spoke approvingly of the potential for a roadmap, without explicitly committing Brazil to it. She said: \u201cWhen we have a terrain or environment that is quite grim, it is good that we have a map. But the map does not force us to travel, or to climb.\u201d<\/p>\n In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, she added: \u201cThe map is an answer to our scientific knowledge [of the climate crisis]. It is an ethical answer.\u201d<\/p>\n Scores of countries meeting in Bel\u00e9m for the UN climate summit<\/a>, which is entering its second week, want to establish how a global phaseout of fossil fuels could work. They want to build on a historic resolution made two years ago at Cop28 in Dubai to \u201ctransition away from fossil fuels\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n That promise had no timetable attached or details on how it could be achieved, and although it was passed unanimously, some countries have since attempted to disavow the pledge. Attempts last year to elaborate on what it would mean in practice were stymied by opposition from petrostates at Cop29 in Azerbaijan, which is heavily reliant on oil and gas exports<\/a>.<\/p>\n There was no mention of the transition away from fossil fuels in the outcome of Cop29 as a result.<\/p>\n For these reasons, Brazil has been wary of calls<\/a> by some countries to put the transition on the agenda for Cop30<\/a>. But Silva has worked hard behind the scenes to ensure the pledge could be discussed at the summit outside the formal agenda<\/a>.<\/p>\n She won round Brazil\u2019s president, Luis In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva, who made public reference three times to the need to \u201cmove away from dependence on fossil fuels\u201d at the summit of world leaders that preceded Cop30<\/a>, and at the opening of the conference.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is something that we know at some point had to be put forward, because it is the only way to face the problem from the root,\u201d Marina Silva said. \u201cWe recognise that it is not easy, and we cannot sell false hopes. Raising the subject is courageous, and I hope [to see] this courage from all, from producers and consumers.\u201d<\/p>\n Brazil had not initiated the call for a phaseout, she said, because that had been done at Cop28. Instead, it was allowing the discussions to take place in accordance with what some countries wished. \u201cWe know these topics are delicate. We will give the opportunity to discuss it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n There is not enough time at Cop30 to draw up a roadmap, a process Silva said could take several years because many countries faced complex issues around dependence on fossil fuels, or wanted to use the proceeds from selling fossil fuels to finance their development.<\/p>\n \u201cBrazil raises the subject, because Brazil is both a producer and consumer,\u201d she said. \u201cBut Brazil is different, because Brazil, if it wants to, need not depend on fossil fuels. We have to understand that there are some that depend on fossil fuels in their economies and don\u2019t have easy solutions, and others where fossil fuels are the basis of their economy.<\/p>\n \u201cTo be fair is to be fair to everyone, but the essential, primordial justice is not to be unfair to the planet, because it is our home.\u201d<\/p>\n If the pledge receives enough support, Cop30 could set up a forum in which the process of drawing up a roadmap to the phaseout could begin.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n The planet’s most important stories. Get all the week’s environment news – the good, the bad and the essential<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com<\/a> to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n The process would require dialogue with all signatory countries to the UN framework convention on climate change (UNFCCC) and criteria for how the process would unfold, Silva said. \u201cOnce we have criteria, a governance structure can be drawn up; once we have a strategy, and create safeguards to be able to establish trust in the process, I believe that with these elements we can transform good ideas into steps that are clearer, and more concrete.\u201d<\/p>\n