Dressed as wind turbines, barrels of oil, trees, solar panels and chimneys, Greenpeace activists staged a protest today, during the meeting of the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries in the Brazilian capital, against the lack of a clear commitment on the part of their governments to produce a plan for a clean development. The activists opened a banner stating: “No forests, No climate, No future”. Security moved quickly and arrested four activists, who were taken to a police station and then released.
The protest served to highlight the fact that the meeting of the BRIC countries centered on economic and financial questions while failing to give prominence to the climate crisis. “This meeting was an opportunity for the BRIC leaders, which according to the IMF accounted for nearly half of world growth over the last two years, to discuss ways of promoting development while averting climate catastrophe”, said João Talocchi, Greenpeace climate campaigner in Brazil.
“The commitment of these countries to a green economy taking into account the protection of forests and the creation of a clean matrix of energy generation, is crucial to holding rise in global temperatures to below the 2º degree centigrade”, continued Talocchi.
“Unfortunately, the behaviour of the BRIC countries and South Africa, which came to Brasília to hold parallel discussions with the leaders of Brazil and India, has been erratic at best.”
“The global weight of the BRIC economies gives them the ability to lead and influence the rest of the world, their commitment to clean energy sources such as solar and wind, could spark a clean energy revolution worldwide”, said Siddharth Pathak, Greenpeace India Policy Campaigner, speaking from Delhi. “More than reducing emissions, these technologies will stimulate the creation of jobs and energy distribution and help improve the quality of life around the planet”.