Lula questions compliance with environmental targets by Europeans – 06/27/2023 – Market

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (PT) once again raised the tone against the European Union this Tuesday (27), accusing the bloc’s members of failing to meet environmental targets, despite demanding from South American countries.

“We have an obligation to do the right thing, because the world is watching us. You saw now that the French Congress approved that it will not want to make an agreement with Mercosur, because they think that Brazil will not be able to fulfill the goals of Paris?”, questioned the president, during the launch event of the Harvest Plan 2023-2024.

“And who fulfills it? Who of them has met a goal now more than us? Who of them has met it? So it is important that we are serious so that we can demand seriousness and respect from the other towards us”, he added.

This Tuesday morning (27), Lula participated in the launch ceremony of the 2023-2024 Crop Plan. The event was marked by signs of environmental protection and sustainable economic growth, in addition to seeking to refute the relationship between agribusiness and deforestation.

One of those present, for example, was the Minister of the Environment, Marina Silva, who stated that Brazil has the capacity to meet the environmental targets set out in the Paris Agreement, without affecting economic activities.

Lula’s speech is the president’s latest move against the Europeans, who want to impose a side letter, a list of new environmental commitments, to complete the agreement between the European Union and Mercosur.

Lula also refers directly to the decision of the French parliament, which approved a resolution against the ratification of the agreement, because of the possibility of environmental crimes. The act does not have the force of law, however.

Last week, during a live broadcast on social networks, the Brazilian president had already stated that the European Union cannot threaten Mercosur countries with punishment.

“I’m having lunch with Macron and I want to discuss the question of the French parliament that approved the tightening of the Mercosur-European Union agreement. That is, the European Union cannot try to threaten Mercosur with punishing Mercosur if it does not comply with this or that”, said the president during live broadcast.

On a trip to Europe last week, Lula also participated in the Power Our Planet event, in Paris, aimed at preserving the environment. The Brazilian, in front of the French public, made a tough speech and blamed the Europeans for the pollution of the world.

“It’s not the African people who pollute the world, it’s not the Latin American people who pollute the world. In fact, those who polluted the planet in the last 200 years were those who made the Industrial Revolution. the historic debt they owe to planet Earth,” said