Government of RJ

 

Former Environment Minister and Senator Marina Silva (PV-CA) said on Wednesday (18th), in the Chamber, that she will present an amendment to the National Policy on Climate Change or a specific bill to "institutionalize" the Brazilian goals for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases.

The statement was made during the meeting of the general committee which discussed the Brazilian position at the climate conference to be held by the United Nations (UN) next month in Copenhagen, Denmark (COP 15).

With this step, Silva hopes to obtain the commitment of future governments with the subject. "We can not have a goal for 20 years and pass this down to the next government without being institutionalized," said the senator. Last week, the government announced the goal of voluntarily reducing between 36.1% and 39.2% of emissions of greenhouse gases by 2020.

The senator also suggested the inclusion of the operational details of the whole process in the federal budget and the creation of a website to monitor the implementation of the climate policy by the population. "Brazil should institutionalize the proposal, and governments will be bound to make the right investment decisions," he said.

Missing Inventory
Silva criticized the delay of the Brazilian inventory of emissions of greenhouse gases, whose data are from 1994. She said she will submit an application to the Ministry of Science and Technology to explain to Congress the reasons for the delay.

"The Brazilian inventory is delayed, and this is a serious failure. We can not go on with data from 1994, they should already have been updated. There is a certain weakening of our technical basis for discussion in Copenhagen," said Senator Silva.

Deputy Ricardo Tripoli (PSDB-SP) also argued that the government should document the reduction targets in a bill sent to Congress for consideration by lawmakers. He believes that this measure would strengthen the Brazilian participation in Copenhagen. Tripoli was president of the Special Committee on Climate Change in 2008.

Involvement
Congressman Fernando Gabeira (PV-RJ) demanded the involvement of each individual to reverse the effects of global warming. For him, the goals announced by the Brazilian government are reflections of a change of behavior in other countries that have made the Brazilian companies themselves to ask the government to adopt a tougher stand on the Climate Convention. "In Sweden, carbon emissions are already displayed in the packaging, including for food," he said.

In the same vein, the director of the NGO SOS Mata Atlantica, Mario Mantovani, claimed that the debate on global warming is not a discussion limited to the scientific world, about numbers and technical terms. For him, it is important to know how society reacts and how the public perceives this problem in their daily lives, because the consequences "already arrived at everyone's home and affect the health of people."

Projects
The president of the Chamber, Michel Temer, said that the House is committed to the discussion of proposals on climate change and that the Congress should vote on new projects until the date of the Conference on the Climate Change.

Deputy Rodrigo Rocha Loures (PMDB-PR) asked the Brazilian government to lead the discussions at the Climate Conference. For him, the country should disclose, even before the conference, its position on the matter so that it appear on the document that will be prepared during the meeting. The deputy also called for more public involvement in the debate.

Reporting - Noel Noble and Marcello Larcher
Edition - Newton Araújo
Translation – Rejane Xavier