Sergio Abranches
Rio+20 can still arrive at a relevant outcome in spite of the dismal results of three rounds of negotiation at the United Nations headquarters in New York. But this outcome will certainly fall short of expectations and scientific requirements. The most a meeting with the characteristics of Rio+20 could achieve is to decide on a set of minimum ground rules for countries to build the architecture for a future green, low-carbon, low ecological footprint economy. More »
Sergio Abranches
Brazil wants an ambitious outcome to the Rio+20 summit. Diplomats say, however, that they will work to prevent this outcome from being exclusively oriented towards environmental issues.
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Sergio Abranches
Last week, China’s National Development and Reform Commission reportedly directed seven regions to set overall emissions control targets and submit proposals for how caps should be allocated. The directive, which encompasses the cities of Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Tianjin and the provinces of Guangdong and Hubei, aims to establish cap-and-trade pilot projects for the country’s carbon market, meant to be in place by 2015. More »
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) countries may become a good example of how to deal politically with deadlocking issues. At their summit in Honolulu last week,they agreed to reduce import tariffs to boost trade in products that cut fossil fuel use and reduce pollution. More »
Sergio Abranches
The International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other international groups are expected to present a paper on climate finance at the G20 meeting this Friday in Washington. It recommends a sharp reduction of subsidies for fossil fuels, putting a price tag of $25 per ton on carbon emissions, and collecting a surcharge on bunker fuels to raise money for climate finance. More »
Brazil has suddenly realized the attractiveness of its immense wind power potential. Once deemed too expensive and small-scale, unable to meet the country’s power needs, it is now braced to grow sevenfold to 2014. More »
