The drop in Amazon deforestation during the last five years and a resulting decrease in CO2 emissions were presented by the Brazilian minister of the Environment, Carlos Minc, and his secretary for Climate Change and Environmental Quality, Suzana Kahn, at the Greenland Dialogue last month.
Over 30 ministers gathered to discuss directives which will guide the next UN Conference on Climate Change (COP-15) to be held in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December.
According to secretary Suzana Kahn, the meeting was an opportunity for Brazil to show efforts the country has been making to halt deforestation in the Amazon and decrease overall CO2 emissions. However, the secretary said, mistrust between developed and developing countries was evident. "It was clear that one of the stalemates we face is the mistrust between these two groups of countries", she said.
She added that developed countries stated that it's useless for them to do their part if emerging economies - such as Brazil - do not commit and make an effort to reach established global goals. "They [developed countries] argued that, if developing countries don't do the same, it will be useless to reduce their emissions according to the Kyoto Protocol."
On the other hand, the promise of financial help to developing countries - so that they may adapt and so that goals may be met - has not been entirely kept. "And poorer and insular countries, which are extremely vulnerable, need this help very much", Suzana added.
During the meeting, minister Minc and secretary Kahn presented Brazil's National Plan on Climate Change, which establishes a 70% drop in Amazon deforestation until 2017.
Despite the stalemate, the event in Greenland was a good opportunity for Brazil to negotiate the first bilateral meeting on climate change between Brazil and the United States. Suzana Kahn said that topics to be discussed at this meeting - which should be held next September - aren't yet defined, but they most certainly will include the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) line of action.
The meeting in Greenland The Greenland Dialogue was the fifth and last of a series of informal international discussions on climate change - between key environment ministers - with the intent of reaching an agreement to substitute the Kyoto Protocol. Representatives from the USA, China, India, South Africa and many European countries - such as Germany, France, Sweden and Norway - were also present.
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