>        Home to one of the greatest ecosystems and forest on the planet

>        Third largest emitter after India and China

>        Energy sector doesn’t contribute much to greenhouse gas emissions; unsustainable land us and forestry contributes more

>        World’s largest producer and consumer of ethanol, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and pollution in urban centres

>        Vulnerable to CC à Fragile, biologically diverse ecosystems e.g. tropical rainforest of Amazon and Pantanal wetland. Rising temperatures, dryer amazon, more frequent fires, releasing more greenhouse gases, increasing concentration in atmosphere which increases temperatures 

>        Increase in temperatures can change rainfall patterns, poorer water resources and a reduced water supply. Agriculture will suffer, aggravating risk of famines. Will affect hydropower supply which apparently provides 80% of Brazil’s energy
>        Ethanol and PROCEL programmes weren’t created with primary objective of limiting greenhouse gases but came as a positive side effect

>        Biodiesel and PROINFA are programs aimed at reducing emissions

>        ETHANOL PROGRAM: 1975 created. Largest commercial application of biomass for producing and using energy in the world. Showed technical feasibility of large-scale ethanol production from sugarcane and is used as fuel for cars. Curbed increase of air pollution in Brazil’s cities and reduced greenhouse gases. Sugarcane ethanol. 

>        PROCEL PROGRAM: Electrical Energy Conservation Program. Created to reduce waste of electrical power on both supply and consumer side. In 1990’s bulk of Brazil’s energy consumption was hydropower. 

>        PROINFA: Incentives for renewable energy sources. In 2002 congress approved law aiming to establish a compulsory renewable energy market. Helps independent power producers using renewable energy sources to supply a higher share of electricity to the national grid. The program had 2 phases. 

-          1.  Install 3,300 megawatts of electricity generating capacity based on biomass, small hydro power plants and wind power. In 2002 this represented just under 1% of total electricity production.

-          2. Increase share of these sources to 10% but new regulations in the power sector have needed a review of this so phase two is not yet designed. 

>        Brazil is an important developing-country player in international climate change negations and with China and India, one of the three largest emitters of greenhouse gases in the developing world.

>        Brazil leads countries in promotion of renewable energy sources.

o   What are the current commitments have been made internationally and nationally ie. CC

o   Impact of CC on country/ people/ environment

o   What’s being done domestically to respond to those impacts / What is it doing at national level

o   What could be done domestically to respond to CC 

o   Identify countries in comparable position on CC impact

o   What are the beliefs/ ideological position re CC and/or responses to it

o   What has currently been agreed to re action on CC 

o   How could they improve their domestic responses to CC 

o   Are there substantial/substate governments that can have their own position/ take action

o   How the country uses and consumes energy à Energy usage per capita, hydro, geothermal energy, dams? 

o   Economics of the country, is it developing or developed from a long time back. Rich/poor

o   Industrialised/agricultural? GDP/HDX

o    Populous?

o    Powerful?

o   Governance/ regulatory frameworks/ ability to act

o   Any special arguments based on country’s history/ position/ circumstances

Greenhouse effect- Trapping of sun’s warmth in a planet’s lower atmosphere, due to the greater transparency of the atmosphere to visible radiation from the sun than to infrared radiation emitted from the planet’s warmth.

Fossil fuels- Natural fuel like gas/ coal formed in the geological past from the remains of living organisms. 

Turned its international climate commitments into national law, 

Pledged greenhouse gas reductions targets to the UNFCCC, brasil has turned this into national law

Newly found oil reserves - 

32 emission reducing activities being implemented 

Mitigation to be quantifiable and verifiable 

Newly found deep-water oil reserves 

Fills in gaps

 

International community should do this

Brasil's position is this

Compromise 

Brasil's position - powerful presence + showing serious dedication(like our one Copenhagen) / drafted an accord to commit to internationally verified emissions cut 

Continue to furthur develop the Copenhagen accord 

Start of the fund to help poorer countries with technology and climate change 

Meetings every three months = consistent action 

 

- But now, Brazil seems to be taking steps to reduce their impact. The study, published in the journal Science, showed that Brazil was able to save more than 33,000 square miles of Amazon rainforest since 2004 - According to National Geographic, the cuts are more than three times bigger than the effect of taking all the cars in the U.S. off the road for a year.
- Brazil’s forest code was also updated in 2012, requiring landowners to preserve 80 percent of the Amazon’s virgin forest.
- While the 2007 report from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change showed that roughly 17 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions come from deforestation, the UCS says that number has now decreased to 10 percent — thanks to efforts by Brazil and several other tropical countries.

Brazil has unveiled its plan to encourage farmers in the Amazon region to develop sustainable sources of income and turn their backs on the illegal logging that is ravaging the rainforest. 
The Sustainable Amazon Plan includes £300m in low-interest loans that will be made available to farmers. 
Some 40,000 families who were formerly involved in logging will also get social security and unemployment benefits. 
The loans will be offered at 4% annual interest, well below Brazil's benchmark 11.75% rate, said the environment minister, Marina Silva.
A recent surge in illegal deforestation threatens to reverse three years of improvement, leading the government to boost efforts to combat illegal logging. The plan is an attempt to reconcile economic development with conservation. 
"We are reaffirming the concept that the Amazon is not only a mass of trees, but also of the more than 24 million Brazilians who live there," said the national integration minister, Geddel Vieira Lima, who is responsible with coordinating rural development. 
The plan also aims to improve Amazon highways and river transport, expand ports and broaden access to electricity, Lula said. 
Brazil is actively aiming to reduce the impact of logging on the environment. this proves that they care about the amazon and acknowledge the importance it has to the health of the world. 

 

 

 

Paris Agreement for Climate Change

 

Brazil 

 

Our opening position

 

Negotiation 

Not only has Brazil worked extensively in the past trying to reduce their own greenhouse gas emissions and the education of such endeavours to the wider community, they have bold plans for the future. Prior to Paris talks on Climate Change in 2015, Brazil wished for the cut of emissions by 37% within 20 years from 2005. Additionally reducing deforestation and boost the share of renewable energy sources. 

As the main issue relating to Brazil going into the Paris talks was about the responsibility developing nations have towards climate change action as having historically been the highest emitters of greenhouse gases. However, Brazil has significantly reduced its emissions not just with Ethanol program and education into the reduction of power wastage but with their actions towards lowering deforestation levels in the Amazon, saving the lungs of our planet and this highly fragile and biodiverse region which is so universally integral. 

One of the principal concerns for Brazil’s future developments against climate change is money. The United Nations outlining the “insufficient budgetary and financial resources, which are chronically unavailable when required.” Which is why when negotiations with another country that are more developed and wealthier, should Brazil ask for money. The nation already has a strong vision for the future and its history of climate change action has shown commitment as they are one of the leading countries in their promotion of renewable resources. However, their budgets are making these plans difficult to enforce leaving the Amazon to slowly wither away each day and the region to rise in temperature created a major catalyst. 
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/sep/28/brazil-pledges-to-cut-carbon-emissions-37-by-2025