Brazil to launch fossil fuel transition roadmap at COP31

Road map targets infrastructure limits and fossil fuel subsidy reform

Brazil is scheduled to launch its fossil-fuel transition road map on Tuesday at the U.N. climate talks, COP31, in Antalya, Turkey. The country ran last year’s U.N. climate talks, and the document is the road map Brazil had promised for this year’s talks. Countries that want to wean themselves from the fossil fuels that cause climate change will get a road map aimed at guiding them on an economy-transforming journey toward renewable energies.

Launch and the country-specific design of the road map

The document is intricate by design, offering different “levers” for nations to use to switch from coal, oil and gas to renewable energies such as wind and solar, which do not release heat-trapping gases that lead to global warming. Three years ago, countries at climate talks agreed to “transition away from fossil fuels” but provided no guidance or details, and supplying what was missing is what Brazil is hoping to do.

“What we hope to achieve with the road map is making a big problem — that is transitioning away — translating it into smaller actionable solutions,” Brazil’s Ana Toni, who was CEO of last year’s talks, told The Associated Press. “What we want is to be very pragmatic, helping countries move forward.”

Because all countries are different, the road map is differentiated so that a nation could look at different tools and make decisions about moving away from fossil fuels, Toni said. Some people may think the transition is impossible, she said, but the road map shows that it is possible and that a transition to renewable energies is inevitable. “Actually many countries are doing many things already,” she added.

One practical measure is to limit new fossil-fuel infrastructure. Toni said it was important for countries to stop building new fossil-fuel power plants and infrastructure because those investments would become “stranded assets.”

Another key “foundational” lever, she said, is getting rid of subsidies that make fossil fuels cheaper and easier to use. The differentiated design allows each government to consider different measures against its own circumstances and decide which to pursue.

Deforestation and climate finance road maps, and Brazil’s energy mix

Brazil is also presenting two other “road maps” during the talks. One deals with deforestation, and the other puts details into the $1.3 trillion in climate financial aid promised by rich countries for poorer nations.

The fossil-fuel road map also comes from a country with major oil deposits. Brazil is a major fossil-fuel exporter, while most of its internal energy consumption comes from hydropower. Toni declined to comment directly on her country’s oil exports.

Assessments from Toni, Climate Action Network and Observatório do Clima

On the reach of the proposal, Toni said: “We’ll create a road map that is good not only for Brazil, but for the world.”

On Monday, the environmental group Climate Action Network lauded Brazil and its president “for doing something that feels increasingly revolutionary at a climate summit: working out how to deliver what was agreed.”

Stela Herschmann, international policy lead for Observatório do Clima, a network of Brazilian environmental organizations, said the broader approach allows countries to begin from different positions. “The road maps make clear that, although every country has a different starting point, all countries can start their own path,” Herschmann said. “Brazil has demonstrated the courage and leadership to start this conversation.”

The proposal is intended to make the earlier transition agreement actionable. It identifies new fossil-fuel infrastructure and subsidy reform as areas for policy action while leaving national governments to choose the measures that fit their circumstances. The approach described by Toni and Herschmann combines a common transition goal with country-level choices on implementation.

Suzan Fraser wrote the report. Borenstein reported from Kensington, Maryland, and Arasu reported from Bengaluru, India.

The Associated Press states that its climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations and that AP is solely responsible for all content. Readers can find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.