Brazil is at the top of a ranking that fight climate change

16/12/2009 - Secretariat for Social Communication of the Presidency of Brazil - Brazil is at the top of a ranking of countries that are most active against climate change. It is the first time in which an emerging country figures as the first one in the list, which was published last Monday (December 14) by the NGO Germanwatch and the Climate Action Network (CAN). The fifth Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) assessed ongoing measures in 57 countries and compared them with what is being done in other nations, and with what the organization considers necessary measures to avoid a 2ºC increase in global temperature.

Scoring 68 points, Brazil surpassed developed countries such as Sweden, Germany and Norway, and joined a group whose performance in actions under the climate agenda is classified as "good". Other countries that accompany Brazil in this group are Sweden (67.4), United Kingdom and Germany (65.3), India (63.1), Norway (61.8) and Mexico (61.2).

According to the ranking coordinators, Brazil has reached this position because of domestic efforts already in place. There were significant achievements in the legal framework on climate protection.

Continued efforts

Brazil has joined COP-15 with a strong set of actions to fight climate change. Besides having a National Plan on Climate Change, since 2009 the Brazilian Government has also taken up voluntary emission reduction targets between 36.1% and 38.9% in relation to emissions forecasted for 2020 - according to the forecasted national growth from 4% to 6%.

In the beginning of December, the Brazilian Congress has also given an important step forward: the approval of the National Policy on Climate Change. On December 9, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva sanctioned a law that created the National Climate Change Fund, which will be supported with resources from oil exploitation to make investments in mitigation and adaptation to climate change.

Da MMA