Environmental activists at the United Nations Climate Change Conference have a new country to add to their list of public enemies: Brazil.
According to a report from the Independent, the South American country’s new populist government is less than eager to cooperate with the global warming crowd now meeting in Poland to try to force the world to reduce its fossil fuel use. Sources tell the media outlet that Brazilian delegates on the floor aren’t getting any support from the decision makers in the capital of Brasilia.
Jair Bolsonaro, far-right lawmaker and presidential candidate of the Social Liberal Party (PSL), and his wife Michelle pose as they arrive to cast their votes, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Oct. 28, 2018 (Photo by RICARDO MORAES / POOL / AFP)
The United States has been judged non-compliant since the election of President Donald Trump — and just this week the naturalist Sir David Attenborough predicted the “collapse of civilizations” could result if other nations follow America’s reputed indifference to climate change.
But Greenpeace, a group often accused of using extreme means to justify its ecological end, is furious with Brazil for receding from its former enthusiasm for the climate change agenda. (RELATED: Bernie Sanders, Climate Change Hawk, Spends Nearly $300K On Private Jet Travel In A Month)
World renowned naturalist Sir David Attenborough delivers the “People’s Seat” address during the opening of COP24 UN Climate Change Conference 2018 in Katowice, Poland Dec. 3, 2018. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel
The trouble all started when Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, dubbed the “Trump of the tropics,” announced that his country would not be hosting the next UN climate change summit anywhere near the sands of Rio’s Ipanema beach.
Marcio Astrini, in charge the policy section of Greenpeace’s Brazil branch, called that decision “the first stone he put in the wall of the shame he promises for the environment.” Astrini made the comments during an interview with Spanish newspaper “El País.” (RELATED: Greenpeace Activists Crash Drone Into French Nuclear Plant)
Astrini predicted dire consequences for Brazil’s rainforest if it ignores the voices of Greenpeace and other environmental activists.
“It’s as if [Brazil] was saying that it doesn’t want to help with solution, but with the problem,” he said.
The Independent also notes that Climate Action Network, a non-government organization present at the climate change conference, has declared Brazil to be the “fossil of the day” while attempting to shame the nation because “a so far trusted broker of the Paris Agreement negotiations is about to become one of the world’s climate rogues.”