MEDIA REACTION: MIDEAST: IRAN; GLOBAL ECONOMY: IPCC REPORT;

UNCLAS SAO PAULO 000089 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE INR/R/MR; IIP/R/MR; WHA/PD DEPT PASS USTR USDOC 4322/MAC/OLAC/JAFEE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KMDR OPRC OIIP ETRD BR SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: MIDEAST: IRAN; GLOBAL ECONOMY: IPCC REPORT; SAO PAULO ¶1. "Bush Helps Ahmadinejad" Liberal, largest national circulation daily Folha de S. Paulo's Washington correspondent Sergio Davila commented (2/5): "The Iranian medium class imposed a political defeat on President Mahmoud Ahmdinejad in recent elections because he failed to fulfill his promise of economic recovery. The base of that radical president, who is trying to gain popularity domestically and relevance overseas with nuclear bravado, has been gradually corroded.... Like the Americans, the Iranians also love their children. Left alone, they will know how to change the course of their nation from the inside. Threatened by a foreign policy, they will unite - even around Ahmadinejad. This is what George W. Bush is doing with his rhetoric of escalation and actions." ¶2. "Era Of Uncertainty" Liberal, largest national circulation daily Folha de S. Paulo (2/4) editorialized: "There is no rational doubt about what is going on. It is no longer debatable whether the burning of fossil fuels and other human activities are or are not the main causes for the phenomenon [global warming]. The IPCC report states that there is 90 percent certainty about that.... The document says that the world climate system warming is 'unequivocal'.... Those who prefer to turn their eyes to the 10 percent of uncertainty scrupulously noted by the IPCC scientists will be committing a mistake if they make it a pretext to ignore the problem. The climate change has come to stay, and the emphatic sign implicit in the report must be seen as a landmark: the cost of inaction will much probably be greater than that of action.... With the US's reticence in adopting the Kyoto Protocol, the document has become an almost worthless agreement. An international effort must now concentrate in the treaty's second period. It is necessary that the new goals to be assumed by the international community reflect the seriousness of the IPCC confirmations and projections." ¶3. "Too Hot" Liberal, largest national circulation daily Folha de S. Paulo's Newsroom Secretary Vinicius Torres Freire opined (2/4): "The climate crisis is indeed a tragedy.... Which group, class or nation with power and influence is really concerned with this fact? One has to take into consideration a topic that interests the global power: trade. For years, means have been negotiated to eliminate the protection that rich nations give to two percent of their populations, the portion that lives from agriculture, barring the products of billions of poor farmers around the world.... What's next? A UN climate agency to be undermined by the US? Will the US give up gorging itself with beef, gasoline, steel and plastic...? Will China give any importance to those who want to prevent it from ascending hundreds of millions to the medium class massively consuming natural resources?.... In Darfur, thousands of starving refugees have been systematically massacred by militias supported by the Sudanese government. Somalia, was invaded by Ethiopia, with the US support on behalf of the 'war on terrorism.' American top guns killed dozens of Muslim Somalis. Almost no one cares or complains about violation of international laws.... The climate is hot as always for 70 percent of humanity. If the air conditioning is turned on, it will be to refresh only the habitual minority." McMullen