Earth Stewardship, Climate Change, and Low Carbon Consciousness: Refl ections from Brazil and South America - Earth Stewardship: Linking Ecology and Ethics in Theory and Practice - page 364

priority was given to the issue; (b) law enforcement and institutional capacity was
enhanced; (c) coalitions by multi-stakeholders against the consumption of soy beans
and beef produced in deforested areas were formed; (d) the infl uence of NGOs and
the scientifi c community on the media increased; (e) new and extensive national
parks and conservation units were created; and (f) cooperation between state and
national governments was boosted (Viola 2013 ; Viola and Franchini 2013 ; Viola
and Basso 2014 ).
Climate change effectively entered the Brazilian policy scenario in 2008, when
the National Climate Change Plan was enacted. The Plan establishes targets that
should be achieved in several areas so as to mitigate climate change. 9 In 2009, the
Plan was included in a legal framework, the National Climate Change Law (Law
12187, complemented by Decree 7390/2010). This was a major advancement.
Brazil was then among the selected group of countries that had enacted a Climate
Change Law constraining carbon emissions, and the fi rst non-OECD nation to do
so - even some OECD countries, such as USA, Canada, and Australia, did not have
one. Besides incorporating the Plan, the legal framework established that sectorial
action plans should target reducing GHG emissions. 10
Deforestation is no longer the greatest source of Brazilian GHG emissions,
even if its amount is still signifi cant. Since 2010, agriculture, cattle ranching, and
energy services, answer for 67 % of the emissions (Brazil 2013 ). 11 The shift is
important, because it shows that the fatalist arguments of the 1980s were wrong;
but it also represents a challenge. If Brazil wants to reach a low carbon profi le,
reducing deforestation is no longer enough. Emissions from the energy sector are
particularly concerning. The use of fossil fuels in transportation has been very
high in Brazil, and since 2006 the federal government has been keeping the prices
of oil derivatives artifi cially low in order to maintain higher rates of economic
9 Increase energy effi ciency; substitute charcoal coming from deforestation with charcoal coming
from tree plantations; replace old fridges and HCFCs; invest in solar water heating and urban waste
recycling; phasing out the use of fi re for clearing sugar cane plantations; integrate agriculture and
cattle raising systems maintain the share of renewable energy in the Brazilian electricity matrix,
encourage the domestic and international use of biofuels, seek further reduction of deforestation,
eliminate the net loss of forest coverage, strengthen inter-sector actions to reduce climate change
vulnerability, and identify impacts of climate change in the environment and support scientifi c
research about it. Plano Nacional sobre Mudança do Clima, available at http://www.mma.gov.br/
estruturas/smcq_climaticas/_arquivos/plano_nacional_mudanca_clima.pdf , accessed 1 May 2014;
executive summary in English available at http://www.mma.gov.br/estruturas/208/_arquivos/
national_plan_208.pdf , accessed 1 May 2014.
10 Among the most relevant sectorial plans are the plans to reduce deforestation in the Amazon and
Cerrado Savannah, the low carbon agriculture plan, and the plans to reduce emissions from steel
industry and energy sectors. There are also several subnational policies, especially in the Southern
and South-eastern states, with stricter environmental standards compared to federal ones. Lei
Nacional sobre Mudança do Clima, Law nr. 12187/2009, available at http://www.planalto.gov.br/
ccivil_03/_ato2007-2010/2009/lei/l12187.htm , and Decree 7390/2010, available at http://www.
planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_Ato2007-2010/2010/Decreto/D7390.htm , accessed 1 May 2014.
11 In 2010, agriculture and cattle ranching's share of Brazilian GHG emissions was 35 %; energy
services', 32 %; and LULUCF's, 23 %.