Brazil pledges to cut GHG emissions 37% by 2025

Brazil has become the first major developing country to pledge an absolute reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions ahead the Paris climate talks in December.

The South American country, which is the world’s seventh biggest GHG polluter, says it will cut emissions by 37% by 2025 by cracking down on deforestation and increasing the share of renewable energy sources.

In addition, Brazil aims for a 43% reduction by 2030.

The targets would reduce Brazilian emissions from the current level of 1.6 billion tonnes a year to 1.5 billion tonnes by 2025 and 1.3b billion tonnes by 2030, according to the World Resources Institute.

‘Our goals are just as ambitious, if not more so, than those set by developed countries,’ President Dilma Rousseff said, talking at the UN in New York.

President Rousseff also said that by 2030 Brazil would produce 66% of its electricity from hydropower and 23% from other renewable sources, including biomass.

Brazil has already cut its emissions significantly in the past decade, mostly through reduced deforestation in the Amazon.

In the climate talks in December, developed countries are expected to assume the greatest responsibility for cutting GHG emissions globally.

The US, for example, has pledged to cut emissions by 26-28% by 2025, while China and South Africa say they would reduce emissions but have not made a commitment to slash them in absolute terms.