Actors in Brazil’s climate governance: roles and responsibilities 29

At the federal level, there are two commissions to support the government with the implementation of the UNFCCC and the KP, namely the Interministerial Commis-sion on Global Climate Change³⁰ and the Brazilian Forum on Climate Change.³¹ The former is composed of representatives of ten ministries and is responsible for the coordination of governmental actions in the field of climate change, advising the government on proposals for public policies and legal instruments related to mitiga-tion and adaptamitiga-tion. The latter is composed of ministers, politicians (such as gover-nors of states, mayors, and the president of the Chamber of Deputies), researchers, members of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and the private sector and seeks to promote dialogue between government and society in climate change issues.

The Interministerial Commission provides data to the government in order to set the country’s official position in the negotiations of the UNFCCC. The Commission can, however, request assistance from, or establish partnerships with, public agencies, private entities, and representatives of civil society, aiming to develop strategies to deal with climate change. The Commission is also involved in the carbon market as the country’s Designed National Authority in charge of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) activities and has among its tasks³² to establish additional cri-teria, analyze, and approve CDM projects.

In general terms, the CDMis a project-based mechanism mentioned in Art. 12 of the Kyoto Protocol that ‘allows emission-reduction projects in developing countries to earn certified emission reduction (CER) credits, each equivalent to one tonne of CO₂. These CERs can be traded and sold, and used by industrialized countries to meet a part of their emission reduction targets under the Kyoto Protocol. ³³ As it can be seen, the CDM is a flexible mechanism that was designed with two main objec-tives: to assist industrialized countries in achieving their GHG emission reduction

28 Joseph E. Aldy and Robert Stavins, ‘Architectures for an International Global Climate Change Agreement:

Lessons for the International Policy Community’, in Aldy and Stavins (eds), Architectures for Agreement:

Addressing Global Climate Change in the Post-Kyoto World (Cambridge University Press, 2007) 350–367 at 350–351.

29 On this topic see Natascha Trennepohl, ‘Climate Change in Brazil: the Impacts of Different Actors on the Creation of the National Policy’, Nova Acta Leopoldina 112, Nr, 384, 275–280.

30 See ‘Comissao Interministerial de Mudanca Global do Clima (CIMG)’ at <http://www.mct.gov.br>.

31 See ‘Forum Brasileiro de Mudancas Climaticas at <http://www.forumclima.org.br/>.

32 See Art. 3 of Decree of 7 July, 1999.

33 See UNFCCC, ‘About CDM’, available at <http://cdm.unfccc.int> (visited 26 February 2011).

targets and to promote sustainable development in the host countries, which in this case are developing countries. The CDM promotes finance flow from indus-trialized countries to developing countries and it is, actually, the only mechanism in the KP scheme that provides for the participation of developing countries in the carbon market.

The other commission, the Brazilian Forum on Climate Change, has more participa-tion from society and works to increase debate and to promote the development of CDM projects. The Forum must among its functions: encourage State Forums on Climate Change,³⁴ hold public consultations in different regions of the country, and organize working groups to discuss specific topics on CDM, energy, deforestation, and vulnerability.

Since the CDM receives attention from the business sector, with companies looking for international funding and opportunities to participate in the carbon market, these players influence political decisions. Nevertheless, many executives may not know how to approach the risks and opportunities associated with climate change because of the complexity of the topic. It is clear, though, that by knowing and cal-culating the risks and opportunities, companies have better chances to make wise investments and stay in the market.³⁵ Therefore, due to the demand for information and expert advice, it is becoming more common to find in Brazil organizations of-fering consultancy services on greenhouse gas emissions or facilitating the commerce of Certified Emission Reductions (CERs)³⁶ and investments in the carbon market.

To illustrate this tendency in Brazil, two initiatives can be mentioned, namely the Businesses for the Climate (EPC)³⁷ and the Brazilian Market of Emission Reduc-tions (Mercado Brasileiro de Redução de Emissões, or MBRE for short).

Businesses for the Climate is a national platform launched in October 2009 by the Center for Sustainability Studies at Fundação Getúlio Vargas (GVces)³⁸ with the objective of bringing together entrepreneurs to discuss practical solutions to a low carbon economy and its legal framework in Brazil.³⁹ The platform was created to provide technical and scientific support to companies, hence focusing on training workshops and thematic roundtables to discuss topics like agribusiness, energy, for-estry, industry, services, and transportation. Moreover, the intention is to connect

34 State Forums on Climate Change have been created in several states in Brazil to promote the dialogue between government and society. See ‘Fóruns Estaduais’, available at <http://www.forumclima.org.br>

(visited 27 February 2011).

35 Kimberly Packard and Forest Reinhardt, ‘What Every Executive Needs to Know About Global Warming’, 78 Harvard Business Review (2000) 129–135 at 130.

36 CERs are credits generated from GHG emission reductions in CDM projects and can be traded in the carbon market. See supra note 33.

37 See ‘Empresas Pelo Clima’, available at <http://www.empresaspeloclima.com.br/> (visited 18 February 2011).

38 For more information, see <http://www.ces.fgvsp.br/> (visited 17 February 2011).

39 Lucas Frasão, ‘Empresas querem definir regulação para o clima’, O Estado de São Paulo, São Paulo, 28 August 2009 at H9.

with, and enable, experts and business representatives to give advice during the de-cision-making process.

A previous business initiative was the establishment in 2004 of the Brazilian Market of Emission Reductions (MBRE), a partnership between the Ministry of Develop-ment, Industry and Foreign Trade and the two Brazilian Stock Exchanges (BM&F Bovespa and BVRJ) to facilitate the commerce of CERs and, consequently, to stim-ulate the development of CDM projects in Brazil. The MBRE is composed of ‘insti-tutions, regulations, project registration systems and a business center, all undergoing consolidation in Brazil via BM&FBOVESPA’.⁴⁰ The MBRE has had a database of registered projects and investors since 2005 through which foreign investors inter-ested in acquiring carbon credits can either search for projects that match their in-terests or disclose their intentions of purchase on the database and receive a notifica-tion when a new project that fits their expectanotifica-tions is registered. The credits can also be acquired through online auctions held by the São Paulo Stock Exchange – BM&F Bovespa.

To illustrate the activities of the MBRE, in September 2007 the first online auction of carbon credits held by the BM&F Bovespa sold approximately 808 tons of CERs and raised 13 million euros (€16.20 per tonne). The CERs were owned by the city of Sao Paulo from the capture of methane gas in one landfill.⁴¹ In September 2008, the second auction sold 713 tons of CERs from two landfills also owned by the city of Sao Paulo. This time, the winning bid reached the amount of €19.20 per tonne, totaling just over 13 million euros.⁴²

Besides the aforementioned actions, there is also interaction between business initia-tives and NGOs in Brazil. The Center for Sustainability Studies at Fundação Getúlio Vargas, which coordinates the Businesses for the Climate initiative, for example, supports the Climate Observatory, a network of non-governmental organizations dealing with the climate change agenda. The Climate Observatory has among its goals three key elements: to monitor the development of public policies related to GHG emissions; to monitor and influence international negotiations and the Brazil-ian government position; and to promote dialogue between different actors, such as civil society, the Brazilian Forum on Climate Change, the media, government offi-cials, and other social actors.⁴³

Among the NGOs that are more engaged with discussions on climate change, the Brazilian Forum of NGOs and Social Movements for the Environment and

Develop-40 See BM&F Bovespa at <http://www.bmfbovespa.com.br> (visited 18 February 2011).

41 Ricardo Leopoldo. ‘Banco holandês paga R$ 34 milhões de reais por crédito de carbono’. Estadão, São Paulo, 26 September, 2007.

42 Plantão, ‘Leilão de créditos de carbono rende R$ 37 milhões para Prefeitura’, O Globo, São Paulo, 25 September, 2008.

43 See Observatório do Clima at <http://www.oc.org.br> (visited 12 December 2010).

ment (FBOMS)⁴⁴ has several members that participate in government commissions.⁴⁵ Furthermore, the FBOMS has 13 working groups developing activities in diverse areas, such as energy, environmental education, forest, sustainable tourism, climate, and so forth. The FBOMS was engaged in the discussions about international climate negotiations that preceded the COP15.⁴⁶

Concerning the carbon market, the FBOMS is listed by the Interministerial Com-mission on Global Climate Change as one of the institutions that shall receive an invitation to comment on a CDM project before it is approved. In other words, before approving a CDM Project, the Commission requires that the project propo-nents send invitations to certain institutions asking for comments on their project.

The comments are then incorporated into the documentation and submitted with the CDM project proposal for the Commission’s approval.⁴⁷

There is a certain level of interaction between the actors that are involved in the development of the climate policy in Brazil. In October 2009, for example, during a meeting to discuss Brazil’s position to be presented in Copenhagen, the Executive Secretary of the Brazilian Forum on Climate Change gave the President a docu-ment⁴⁸ with a compilation of opinions and comments from members and individu-als that had participated in several events organized by the Forum. This document suggested measures that should be adopted as the country’s strategy at the COP15.

Similarly, representatives of Brazilian entrepreneurs handed the Minister of Environ-ment an Open Letter on Climate Change signed by 22 companies with their volun-tary commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The letter contained sugges-tions for the government’s position at the COP15 with the entrepreneurs arguing that it is extremely necessary to have a delimited system with clear rules and obliga-tions in order to invest in green technology.⁴⁹ Additionally, several Brazilian entre-preneurs joined the Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change and together with other international companies signed a document demanding an ambitious, robust, and fair agreement to tackle climate change. The document was handed to the

rep-44 See Forum Brasileiro de ONGs e Movimentos Sociais para o Meio Ambiente e o Desenvolvimento at

<http://www.fboms.org.br/> (visited 12 December 2010). The FBOMS has 608 members (as of Decem-ber 2010).

45 For instance, the FBOMS has members in the previously mentioned Brazilian Forum on Climate Chan-ge. See Fórum Brasileiro de ONGs e Movimentos Sociais para o Meio Ambiente e o Desenvolvimento at

<http://www.fboms.org.br> (visited 12 December 2010).

46 See ‘Sociedade civil e governos debatem posições para as negociações sobre mudanças climáticas’, available at <http://www.fboms.org.br> (visited 27 February 2010).

47 See Art. 3(II) of the Resolution 1 of 11 September, 2003 amended by Resolution 7 of 5 March, 2008.

48 The document presents suggestions from different organizations and institutions, such as state and local forums and commissions, NGOs, entrepreneurs, representatives from the industrial and electricity sectors, and local governments. For more information see FBMC, ‘Diálogos Setoriais: contribuições à construção da posição brasileira’, Fórum Brasileiro de Mudanças Climáticas at <http://www.forumclima.org.br>

(visited 12 November 2009).

49 See Fabricio Angelo, ‘E hora de tomar atitudes’, available at <http://www1.ethos.org.br> (visited 12 December 2010).

resentatives of governments at the United Nations meeting in New York in Septem-ber 2009.⁵⁰

There were also some NGOs which presented their suggestions to the Brazilian gov-ernment concerning the country’s climate policy. A manifesto signed by several NGOs was sent to the Ministry of Environment, highlighting shortcomings of the National Plan on Climate Change, and influenced changes to the final version of the Plan, short before its presentation at COP14 in Poznań.⁵¹ A further example of the engagement of Brazilian NGOs in the discussion of the climate policy in Brazil is the suggestions presented by the Climate Observatory to the final text of one bill related to the National Policy on Climate Change.⁵²

As it can be seen from the recent involvement of Brazilian NGOs with climate change topics,⁵³ they are active and try to discuss, and participate in, the decision-making process. There has been a noticeable increase in their involvement, calling for more responsibilities from the federal government, and for the establishment of concrete emission reduction targets for the country.

Apparently in response to the expectations of civil society, not only in Brazil, but also worldwide, concerning the adoption of GHG emissions targets, the Brazilian govern-ment announced during COP15 its voluntary target to reduce GHG emissions by 2020.