This policy brief argues that Brazilian climate policy is increasingly linked with its international political and economic ambitions.

Brazil has a long-standing role and interest in issues related to sustainable development and climate change. After having
hosted the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, where the Climate Change
Convention was originally signed, Brazil has remained an active and engaged partner in the international climate change negotiations.

This trend has been reinforced in recent years – most recently through President Luiz Inácio Lula’s interventions at
COP 15 in Copenhagen.

Brazil’s energy-related CO2 emissions are very low; its contribution the climate change problem has been largely through deforestation and agriculture.

Emissions from deforestation are dropping significantly, but growing energy use, increasing energy intensity, and the discovery of new oilfields threaten to increase Brazil’s energy-related
emissions.

This policy brief is part of SEI’s ‘Emerging Economies and Climate Change’ series, including briefs on the BASIC
group, Brazil, South Africa, India, China, and the USA.

Download policy brief here (pdf)