By David Lawder and Marcela Ayres
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – The U.S. and Brazilian governments announced a climate partnership agenda on Friday, seeking to deepen ties on an issue they see as important but treated as secondary by the opposition in both countries.
Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting of G20 financial leaders in Rio de Janeiro, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that “advancing work on climate, nature and biodiversity is not only can bring benefits to both our economies, but also to the region and the entire world.” global economy.”
“We want to get closer,” Brazilian Finance Minister Fernando Haddad said, adding that he expected these guidelines to be translated into concrete actions very quickly.
The joint work between the US and Brazil, the two largest economies in the Western Hemisphere, will focus on four key areas, including efforts to facilitate countries’ access to Multilateral Climate Fund resources, a priority for Brazil during its G20 presidency this year .
Yellen also cited as pillars of this agenda the goal of strengthening clean energy supply chains and efforts to improve the integrity and effectiveness of voluntary carbon markets.
Efforts to mobilize financing and develop innovative solutions to conserve and restore nature and biodiversity, including through multilateral development banks, are also on the agenda.
