14/12/2009 - Secretariat
for Social Communication of the Presidency
of Brazil - The Secretary for Climate Change
and Environmental Quality at the Ministry
of the Environment,
Suzana Kahn, who is also a scientist of
the transport area and a 2007 Nobel prize
winner with the Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change, highlights actions foreseen
by the National Plan on Climate Change.
Brazil goes to Copenhagen
with ambitious voluntary targets. It is
in a favorable situation to advocate more
emphatically for a robust climate agreement
and demand significant contributions in
financial and technological resources. Is
it the consolidation of the Brazilian protagonism?
When countries in the
process of development take up quantitative
commitments towards changing their emission
patterns, they demonstrate a real willingness
to grow according to a new model, in direction
of a green economy. However, for us to deviate
from the business as usual route and follow
an innovative and creative model, based
on clean technologies, investment is a requirement.
It is not a matter of
donation, but international cooperation.
It is respecting the principle of common
but differentiated responsibilities. When
rich nations help developing countries change
their growth patterns, they are helping
themselves. The atmosphere has no nationality
and the world is just one.
Unfortunately, the financing
side of climate negotiations is still far
behind what is necessary. The financial
architecture is a key point and the Brazilian
delegation will certainly discuss this aspect
vigorously.
With the expressive
reduction of deforestation, a clean energy
mix and quantitative commitments on the
reduction of future emissions, we have an
excellent portfolio of actions that places
us in a strong negotiation position, strengthening
our protagonism.
What do you expect for
COP-15?
My expectations are
optimistic, but realistic. The debate does
not end in Denmark. In fact this is the
starting point, because in sequence we have
the description and implementation phases
of this new adjustment of the global economy.
In the domestic plan,
what are the main objectives already mentioned
in the National Plan on Climate Change?
We could mention the
targets for energetic efficiency; taking
measures in this area could generate an
economy of 106,000 GWh in 2030, what represents
that the emission of around 30 million tons
of CO2 would be avoided.
The government also
wants to keep a high share of renewables
in the energy mix, by raising the supply
of co-generation electric power, especially
from sugarcane bagasse, to 11.4% of the
total amount of electricity generated in
the country by 2030.
Hydropower should aggregate
34 GWh to the system and the stimulus to
the utilization of solar water heating systems
can generate a reduction in energy consumption
of 2,200 GWh/year by 2015.
In relation to the expansion
of thermoelectric plants, the Ministry of
the Environment is working for the adoption
by entrepreneurs of measures aimed at the
mitigation of carbon dioxide emissions deriving
from the operation of thermoelectric plants
using combustible oil and charcoal. The
entrepreneur should mitigate part of the
emissions generated along the lifecycle
of the entrepreneurship, through forest
recovery activities using both exotic and
native species.
For the steel industry,
we want to adopt the green steel and stimulate
the utilization of charcoal from reforestation,
improvement of the energetic efficiency
and use of green certification programs.
Will targets indicated
in the Plan have any interference in national
growth?
The Plan should not
interfere in national growth precisely because
the mechanisms of GHG emissions reduction
are based on energetic efficiency, with
the adoption of biofuels and alternative
sources, such as wind energy. Investors
should not feel insecure.
The Ministry of the
Environment is encouraging the participation
of states and municipalities for the execution
of the National Plan. Are local governments
engaged in this process?
The participation of
states and municipalities in the consolidation
of the National Plan is fundamental, as
it is entering a phase that will require
extreme integration. Our approach now is
on what is being done in the states so that
these actions to tackle climate change can
be adjusted to the National Plan. Improving
information sharing amongst different departments
of the public powers has become a crucial
aspect to the accomplishment of targets
proposed by Brazil.
Some examples of actions
at state level for emissions reduction and
the accomplishment of the targets of the
National Plan are the issuing of environmental
licenses that should include criteria related
to GHG emissions, and the creation of state
forums on climate change, which are already
calculating their emissions inventories.
Both are acknowledged as an important tools
for the environmental policy.
In what stage is the
monitoring of actions under the National
Plan? Is there already an estimate of when
such data will be available?
The monitoring of the
plan is made through emissions estimates
in comparison with the likely emission scenario,
which will also be released during COP15.
When emissions are below expectations of
the likely scenario, the success of mitigation
actions detailed in the Plan is verified.
What will change with
the approval by the Congress of the Climate
Fund and the National Policy in relation
to actions detailed in the Plan?
The Climate Fund is
essential to the implementation of actions
enlisted in the Plan, especially in regard
to adaptation measures. The idea is that
the Plan could be a means of guiding the
application of the Fund.
What are the main results
of ongoing sector agreements as actions
to fight deforestation?
Sector agreements have
a great importance as they promote the participation
of other agents of the society, and not
only the government. For our objectives
to be met, it is fundamental the engagement
of the whole society. When a consumer refuses
to buy meat of suspicious precedence, supermarkets
reevaluate their suppliers and, in a chain
reaction, only producers with good practices
remain in the market. Likewise, when the
auto industry brings to public the emission
levels of their cars, consumers have the
possibility of opting for cars with the
less environmental impact, stimulating a
healthy competition for the production of
more efficient and less pollutant vehicles.
