Brazil won’t host Cop25 Bonn discussed as new climate conference host

RIO DE JANEIRO/BONN · The Brazilian government has withdrawn its candidacy for hosting the UN climate conference Cop25 next year. If no other country is found, Bonn could once again host the conference.

The Brazilian government has withdrawn its candidacy for hosting the UN climate conference Cop25 next year. If no other country is found, Bonn could once again host the conference. Brazil has withdrawn its candidacy to host the UN Climate Change Conference Cop25 next year. According to the United Nations, another country must now be found in Latin America, as it is the region's turn to host the conference in 2019. If nobody wants to host the climate summit, the conference would be held in Bonn.

On GA request, however, Marc Hoffmann, deputy spokesman for the city of Bonn, stated that several Latin American countries had already expressed interest. "The question of whether Bonn will host again has not yet arisen," he emphasised in the interview. As things stand at the moment, the city does not expect to host the climate conference again. As the Federal Environment Ministry announced on Friday evening, Costa Rica currently appears to be the serious successor candidate. "But if the climate conference cannot be held there and no other South American country succeeds,the UN Climate Secretariat and Bonnwill be the host," said Andreas Kübler, spokesman for the Federal Environment Ministry.

The fact that Brazil would host next year's climate conference should have been sealed at this year's climate conference in Katowice, Poland, which will take place from 3 to 14 December. "Environmental policy must not be allowed to botch Brazil's development," said President-designate Jair Bolsonaro on Wednesday. "Today the economy is almost back on track thanks to the agricultural industry, and it is suffocated by environmental issues". Bolsonaro will take office on January 1. So the rejection came from the outgoing government, which declared on Wednesday that the reason was budget restrictions. Environmentalists suspect, however, that the designated president has already exerted influence. Bolsonaro had also promised in the election campaign to withdraw Brazil from the world climate agreement of Paris.

Federal Environment Ministry would not be a host

If, contrary to expectations, the climate conference were to take place in Bonn in 2019, the city would look forward to the major event in a relaxed manner. "Cop23 has shown that it is possible to get the climate summit off the ground within a year," Hoffmann said. The organisers at that time were the federal government and the World Climate Secretariat. But this would probably be different at another climate conference in Bonn. "At the Cop23, Germany hosted on behalf of the Fiji Islands. This was a very special situation and a symbolic act by the Federal Government," says Andreas Kübler of the Ministry of the Environment.

But probably also a unique one. If no South American successor is found for Brazil, the host role under UN regulations will go entirely to the UN Climate Secretariat. They did not want to comment on current developments there on Friday. "In any case, the Federal Environment Ministry will not be the host," said Kübler. According to the ministry, however, it would be an honour if another climate conference were to be held in Germany.

(Original text: Judith Nikula, Sebastian Fink (with material from ap); Translation: Mareike Graepel)

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