The Climate Observatory (OC), which is a network that involves 70 civil society organizations, filed a public-interest civil action against the Ministry of the Environment, in the Federal Court of Amazonas, in order to ensure that the National Plan on Climate Change is updated in compliance with the emergency described in the latest report by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the IPCC. The court in Amazonas accepted the action and the preliminary settlement hearing was scheduled for the end of the month.

Launched in 2008, the plan is at the heart of the public policies to reduce greenhouse gases in Brazil, but has never been updated – while, in the last 13 years, the climate agenda has become increasingly more important and urgent, including the goal of the Paris Agreement to stabilize global warming at 1.5 ºC.

“The action seeks an updated, consistent and detailed plan, which is compatible with the reduction of Brazilian emissions, considering all the sectors of the economy, in accordance with the current legislation, within a reasonable time period to be fixed by the court,” explains Suely Araújo, the senior specialist in Public Policies of the Climate Observatory, in an article published on the OC website .

The Observatory also explains that the government has released a draft of a new law for the PNMC, with the objective of transferring the core of the political demands to the Legislative. “The update of the plan is the responsibility of the federal government and the Executive Branch cannot avoid it,” concludes Suely.