Climate Change, Environment, Headlines, Latin America & the Caribbean

CLIMATE CHANGE: Despite Brazil’s Strides, Activists Press for Greater Efforts

Mario Osava

RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb 16 2005 (IPS) - Brazil is proudly celebrating Wednesday’s entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol, because it played a decisive role in bringing about this event, and is actively contributing to combating climate change, Science and Technology Minister Eduardo Campos told IPS.

Environmentalists, however, are still not satisfied and continue to demand greater efforts on the part of the entire international community and Brazil itself, especially with regard to the deforestation of the Amazon region, the greatest national source of greenhouse gases.

As far as they are concerned, the targets established by the Protocol are not strict enough to ward off major environmental disasters.

The treaty obliges 35 industrialised nations to reduce their emissions of so-called greenhouse gases – which contribute to global warming and climate change – to levels 5.2 percent lower than those registered in 1990, with the year 2012 as the deadline.

But scientific studies indicate that a 60 percent reduction would be needed to limit global warming to two degrees Celsius up through the end of the century, Ruben Born, coordinator of the non-governmental organisation Vitae Civilis, told IPS.

Greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide are mainly released through the burning of fossil fuels like oil, gas and coal. However, certain industrial activities, cattle farming and the clearing and burning of rainforests also contribute to emissions.

On Wednesday, when the Kyoto Protocol formally took effect, ten Brazilian environmental groups staged a demonstration in front of the U.S. consulate in Sao Paulo, where they protested Washington’s refusal to join the treaty and called on their own government to curb deforestation, expand the use of renewable energy sources and strengthen the protection of ecosystems.

Although Brazil and the rest of the world’s developing countries are not obliged to meet the Protocol’s reduction targets, they have taken on the commitment to publish national greenhouse gas emissions inventories, promote climate change mitigation and adaptation programmes, and slow down the growth of emissions, said Born.

The first Brazilian inventory, released by the government in December, recognises that the country currently accounts for a considerable share of global greenhouse gas emissions, with three percent of the total, and that 75 percent of its emissions stem from deforestation and forest fires.

As a result, there have been increased internal and international pressures on Brazil to halt the destruction of the Amazon jungle.

Moreover, as the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM) has pointed out, the inventory is based on data from 1994, when the deforested area totalled 14,000 square kilometres. By 2003, the area affected had reached 23,750 square kilometres and probably increased even further in 2004, which means that current emissions are actually much worse.

According to Campos, however, thanks to the adoption of a series of measures and the mobilisation of various agencies, Brazil “has managed to stop the spread of deforestation and is now taking steps to reverse this trend.” The results are reflected in annual assessments of the deforested area, he added.

The government’s efforts have included the continuous monitoring of the Amazon region by satellite, the promotion of sustainable development projects, the regularisation of land ownership and a crackdown on illegal activities, all of which will yield positive results in the future, the minister said.

These results will take time, however, because they involve “cultural changes, and not simply policies imposed” by the government, he stressed. At the same time, these efforts face considerable challenges, especially given the rapid expansion of agribusiness as a means of “bringing in the dollars” that the country needs, he added.

Brazil is also contributing to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by expandin g the use of renewable energy sources and biofuels, said Campos, whose ministry is responsible for coordinating the Brazilian government’s climate change policies.

Campos was critical of the pressures on developing countries to take on emissions reduction obligations once the original Kyoto Protocol deadline has elapsed in 2012.

Such a position ignores the principle of shared but differentiated responsibilities and the traditional view that the industrialised countries are responsible for the lion’s share of the greenhouse gases released and accumulated since the 19th century, he said.

IPAM researcher and technical coordinator Paulo Moutinho told IPS that the Brazilian government should “initiate a discussion with society now” to prepare a consistent proposal, including the issue of deforestation, for the negotiation of a second phase in the fight against climate change, with commitments from the year 2013 onwards.

In his view, the Brazilian emissions inventory is “an example for other countries” to follow, owing to its transparency, and has already led to an increase in pressures to control the deforestation of the Amazon. Brazil now needs to formulate a response, he noted.

The wealthy nations, which have built up the largest environmental debt, should compensate Brazil and other countries with extensive tropical rainforests for preserving their jungles and thus providing an environmental service to the entire world, he said.

The clearing and burning of rainforests release enormous amounts of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, methane, ozone, and nitrous oxide. Moreover, tropical rainforests are one of the only ways the earth is able to absorb carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, through photosynthesis, which is why the Amazon region is often called “the lungs of the planet”.

In Brazil, the preservation of the Amazon jungle would have an even greater impact, since the country’s greenhouse gas emissions profile is the inverse of the usual pattern. Three-quarters of global carbon emissions result from the burning of fossil fuels, but in the case of Brazil, that same share of emissions is caused by deforestation.