The Prime Minister of the small Caribbean island of Barbados, Mia Mottley, is one of the highlights of the event organized by the French President, Emmanuel Macron, which starts this Thursday (22nd), in Paris. Dubbed the Summit for the New Global Financial Pact, the meeting should be attended by more than 300 public, private or non-governmental entities, including more than 100 heads of state, including President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The highlight of Barbados, which should open the event with President Macron, is due to the fact that the country leads the so-called “Bridgetown Initiative”. The former British colony, which became independent in 1966, is at the forefront of a proposal that requires more industrialized and developed countries to shoulder the expenses and funding needed to tackle climate change in developing countries. Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, is featured at the Summit for the New Global Financial Compact, which will take place in Paris. – Mia Mottley/Facebook Proposals include suspending debt for the poorest countries, expanding World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) lending by $1 trillion for developing countries to invest in “climate resilience” , in addition to the creation of a global fund of up to US$ 5 trillion to mitigate the effects of climate change. In the latter case, the resources would not pass through current multilateral institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF, making, in theory, access to resources more democratic. “Global issues like the climate crisis show us that we simply cannot address modern issues with institutions that were created for a very different world nearly 80 years ago,” said Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley. President Emmanuel Macron, on the other hand, argues that it is necessary to create “better means to face these challenges in the poor and emerging countries of the developing world, with regard to the amount of investment, the comprehensive reform of infrastructure such as the World Bank, the IMF and institutions public and private funds. Rich x poor countries The island of Barbados covers 432 km² – an area smaller than the municipality of Porto Alegre (495 km²) – and is located in a region that is usually affected by strong storms. Therefore, it is pointed out as an example of a country more vulnerable to extreme events caused by climate change. Associate professor at Unicamp’s Institute of Economics, Pedro Paulo Bastos – Pedro Paulo Bastos/Twitter Associate professor at Unicamp’s Institute of Economics, Pedro Paulo Bastos, points out that global warming basically results from the economic growth of developed countries. “Developed countries are largely responsible for the problem, but it is estimated that 97% of the problems will occur mainly in poor countries”. The expert explains that these countries are located in the tropical zones most vulnerable to droughts or floods caused by rising temperatures. “More than 50% of the planet’s greenhouse gases are emitted by no more than five or six countries, and by no more than 20 large multinational companies”, points out the research by Professor José Luís Fiori, from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. January (UFRJ). Among these countries are China, the United States, India, Russia, Japan and Germany. “So there is a scientific basis for demanding an enormous transfer of resources from the countries that are guilty, responsible for the problem, to the countries that, having no significant responsibility for global warming, will be the most affected”, analyzed Professor Pedro Paulo Bastos . For the specialist, the French proposal is not very clear, while the proposal from Barbados has more strength “Macron is trying to take the initiative to moderate and deflate the proposals that come from the (global) South”. Bastos believes that the French president wants, for political prestige, to present himself as a global leader more than Mia Mottley and, at the same time, mitigate the radical nature of the Bridgetown proposal. Multilateral Banks One of the main proposals of the Bridgetown initiative is to reformulate the IMF and the World Bank to favor countries with less financial capacity, in addition to creating a new fund with more egalitarian rules. Currently, the ability to raise loans via multilateral mechanisms depends, to a large extent, on prior deposits that countries make in these institutions. This financing model reproduces the inequalities of power between countries, according to the assessment of Professor of Economic Sociology Edemilson Paraná, from LUT University in Finland. “A mechanism for compensation, financing, support and climate repair needs to take into account this structural limit of these organisms”, he highlighted. The sociologist adds that financing mechanisms can no longer make decisions solely based on the maximization of gains typical of the market rationality that governs these institutions. “It is therefore necessary to adopt political criteria that govern the decision and economic action to mitigate the effects and repair climate injustices”, evaluated Edemilson Paraná. Brazil at the Summit President Lula will defend at the Summit in Paris that the fight against climate change must be accompanied by actions against poverty. “When you discuss finance for sustainable development, you shouldn’t, we argue, just channel that finance to climate issues. You have to look at sustainable development based on three pillars: economic, social and environmental”, explained Ambassador Philip Fox-Drummond Gough, director of the Department of Economic, Financial and Services Policy at the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Brazilian ambassador considered, however, that the Summit has “a relatively limited character in terms of participation, since it is not an exercise for all countries”. Director of the Department of Economic, Financial Policy and Services of the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Philip Fox-Drummond Gough – Tv Brasil – TV Brasil In addition to the Brazilian president, speeches are expected from the Chinese prime minister, Li Qiang; US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen; the chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz; the prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman; of the president of Egypt, Abdul Fatah Khalil Al-Sisi, among others.
Agência Brasil
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