BRAZIL: CLIMATE CHANGE ORGANIZATIONAL INFORMATION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRASILIA 001472 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR OES/EGC E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SENV ENRG KGHG BR SUBJECT: BRAZIL: CLIMATE CHANGE ORGANIZATIONAL INFORMATION REF: A)STATE 116939, B) BRASILIA 1462, C) BRASILIA 1159, D) BRASILIA 1377 ¶1. (U) THIS CABLE IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED AND NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION. ¶2. (SBU) REFTEL A asked how the Brazilian government may have changed organizationally with respect to climate change over the past 12-18 months. Post's answers are keyed to questions. ¶3. (SBU) HAS YOUR HOST GOVERNMENT ALTERED ITS BUREAUCRATIC STRUCTURE FOR ADDRESSING CLIMATE CHANGE OVER THE PAST 12-18 MONTHS? CHANGES MIGHT INCLUDE A) CREATING NEW AND SEPARATE MINISTRIES, DEPARTMENTS, AGENCIES OR SPECIAL UNITS; B) CHANGING THE NUMBER OF STAFF DEVOTED TO CLIMATE CHANGE DOMESTICALLY AND/OR INTERNATIONALLY; C) CREATING NEW INTERAGENCY TASK FORCES AND COORDINATING MECHANISMS FOCUSED ON PARTICULAR COUNTRIES, REGIONS, OR TOPICS; AND/OR D) CREATING NEW SENIOR CLIMATE-RELATED FUNCTIONS (E.G. SPECIAL AMBASSADOR). The Ministry of External Relations (MRE) leads the Brazilian climate change negotiating team, which also includes representatives from the Environment Ministry and the Ministry of Science and Technology (MCT). MRE Under Secretary for Policy, Ambassador Everton Vargas, heads the team and he is also the principal for the Major Economies Meeting (MEM) process. Other key figures on the Brazilian team include: o Luis Alberto Figueiredo Machado, Minister, Director of the Department for the Environment and Special Themes, MRE o Andre Odenbreit Carvalho, Counselor, Chief of Division for Environment Policy and Sustainable Development, MRE o Sergio Barbosa Serra, Ambassador, Special Representative for Climate Change, MRE o Suzanna Kahn Ribeiro, Secretary, Secretariat for Climate Change and Environmental Quality, Environment Ministry o Thelma Krug, Director, International Relations Office, National Space Research Institute (INPE),MCT (NOTE: Dr. Krug was formerly the Secretary for Climate Change and Environmental Quality, Environment Ministry) o Jose Domingos Gonzalez Miguez, Executive Secretary, Interministerial Commission on Global Climate Change, MCT ¶4. (SBU) There are some interesting personnel changes that have taken place or will take place shortly. First, Carlos Minc replaced Marina Silva as the Environment Minister in May. In late October, Minc publicly suggested that Brazil would reverse its position to oppose developing countries accepting binding quantitative obligations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Minc called for Brazil to accept a GHG emissions reduction target of 10% to 20% by ¶2020. The MRE, which has the lead on this issue, emphatically rejected Minc's suggestion. MRE's Special Ambassador for Climate Change Sergio Barbosa Serra suggested that Minc might have been "misquoted" in the press. ¶5. (SBU) Second, Amb. Vargas is scheduled to leave to become Brazil's Ambassador to Germany in early 2009. After Minc's arrival at the Environment Ministry, Thelma Krug left the Environment Ministry for INPE and was replaced by Suzanna Kahn Ribeiro. For the time being, Krug apparently still plays a role in helping set Brazil's policy. Vargas and Krug have consistently opposed changes in Brazil's position. Thus, if their influence were to decline then - given Minc's readiness to make changes - the Brazilian team might take a different approach then the current stance of "no targets" for developing countries. ¶6. (SBU) The Brazilian government has created a variety of entities to support its climate change effort. In June 2000 it created the Brazilian Forum on Climate Change (FBMC),which is chaired by the President of the Republic and includes, among others, federal officials, secretaries of environment from state governments and representatives of business, civil society, NGOs and academia. In November 2007, the FBMC created the Interministerial Committee on Climate Change (CIM) and it prepared a proposed Plan of Action on Climate Change (see REFTEL B),which Brazil hopes to roll out at the Poznan conference in December 2008. The CIM is chaired by the President's Office and has representatives from 16 federal entities and the FBMC. ¶7. (SBU) On August 1, President Lula signed a Decree creating the "Fundo Amazonia" (or Amazon Fund),a new tool to help reduce Brazil's high rate of deforestation, which is the principal source BRASILIA 00001472 002 OF 002 of greenhouse gas emissions by Brazil. The government had a target of raising as much as USD 21 billion by the year 2011. So far, only Norway has contributed, with a pledge of up to USD 1 billion through ¶2015. The National Plan on Climate Change envisions a proposal going to Congress to create a national climate change fund, drawing on revenues from oil and gas operations. This fund is only at the most preliminary stages and may take years, if ever, to go through Congress. ¶8. (SBU) TO WHAT EXTENT ARE NEW MINISTRIES OR FOREIGN OFFICES STRENGTHENING THEIR EMBASSIES IN WASHINGTON TO REPRESENT VIEWS ON CLIMATE CHANGE TO THE U.S. EXECUTIVE BRANCH AND CONGRESS? The Brazilian Embassy in Washington has an environmental office. Moreover, the current Ambassador has a background in environmental issues. ¶9. (SBU) TO WHAT EXTENT HAVE YOUR COLLEAGUES IN OTHER EMBASSIES SOUGHT YOU OUT TO DISCUSS THE CLIMATE CHANGE ISSUE OR CURRENT AND PROSPECTIVE U.S. POLICY ON CLIMATE CHANGE? There is a regular dialogue in Brasilia among interested embassies about climate change and the Brazilian position, as well as the U.S. position. The countries that have participated in this dialogue recently are: the UK, Norway, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, France, Germany, New Zealand, Canada, Japan, Australia, the European Commission, Spain, Denmark, and Sweden. (See REFTEL D) SOBEL