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15 CCLR 257 (2021)
Ambitions towards COP 26

handle is hein.journals/cclr2021 and id is 282 raw text is: Current Developments in Carbon & Climate Law 1 257 Latin America and the Caribbean Ambitions Towards COP 26 Natascha Trennepohl* Although Covid-19 has dominated our world over the last 18 months, climate change remains a pressing is- sue and one which will get increased attention with the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference (COP 26) scheduled to take place in Glasgow. Under the Paris Agreement, countries are expect- ed to review and update their pledges to cut GHG emissions and must submit new Nationally Deter mined Contributions (NDC) every 5 years. These pledges are expected to be more ambitions than the ones previously presented. However, in the Latin America and the Caribbean region, Brazil and Mexico, the two largest emitters, did not present more ambitious targets when sub- mitting their updated NDCs. Brazil was harshly criticized by civil society when the government presented a Nationally Determined Contribution with a target 'to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 37% below 2005 levels in 2025, and by 43% below 2005 levels in 2030',1 but without con- cretely indicating in absolute terms what these per- centages mean. This could mean an increase in emis- sions as the third national inventory showed emis- sion levels of approximately 2.8 GtCO2e in 20052 in- stead of the 2.1 GtCO2e estimated in the previous in- ventory3 DOI: 10.21552/cclr/2021/3/9 Natascha Trennepohl is a Brazilian lawyer with a Ph.D. from the Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany. She is a member of the Latin American Climate Lawyers Initiative for Mobilizing Action (LACLIMA). For correspondence: <natascha@trennepohl.com> 1 Brazil, NDC of 2020. 2 Third National Communication of Brazil to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Brasilia, Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation. Available at: <https://unfc- cc.int/resource/docs/natc/branc3es.pdf>. 3 In the NDC of 2015, Brazil considered emission levels of 2.1 GtCO2e in 2005 and presented an economy-wide target. See Brazil, NDC of 2015. 4 See Propuesta Estrategia Climstica de Largo Plazo de Chile: Camino a la carbono neutralidade y resiliencia al 2050. Ministerio del Medio Ambiente. Available at: <https://consultasciudadanas.mma.gob.cl/> Mexico, in turn, presented an NDC similar to the previous one, ratifying its unconditional target of re- ducing 22% of the GHG emissions and 51% of black carbon by 2030. The goal to increase these commit- ments to a 36% and a 70% reduction, respectively, continues to be conditional on technology transfer, technical cooperation, and access to financial re- sources. Colombia and Peru, on the other hand, presented bolder NDCs to be achieved by 2030, with Colombia increasing its target of GHG emissions reduction from 20% to 51% and Peru increasing the target of emissions reduction from 30% (20% unconditional and 1o% conditional on international financial sup- port) to 40% (30% unconditional and 1o% condition- al). The clock is ticking to keep alive the 1.5 degree goal. Expectations are high for the next Conference of the Parties and a few initiatives have emerged in the LAC region, an especially vulnerable region to the consequences of climate change, on the way of preparation for the COP26. Chile's plans to anticipate the shutdown of coal- fired power plants nationwide continue to progress with a bill being discussed in the Senate. The coun- try has also encouraged the installation of hydrogen plants to produce green fuels and the reduction in energy consumption as steps towards achieving cli- mate neutrality by 2050. The Long-term Climate Strategy4, which was under public consultation in 2021, is expected to be presented at COP26. Brazil has previously had an ambiguous approach to climate change matters and the increase in defor- estation rates, decrease in funds and the shutting down of committees working on climate matters has been met with harsh criticism from civil society. Nev- ertheless, the government approved the National Pol- icy on Payments for Environmental Services (Law 14.119/2021) and has encouraged the compensation for those providing forest conservation services, as well as the involvement of the private sector in the CCLR 312021

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