From: NASDAQ
How to finance clean-energy programs in developing countries is still one of the main roadblocks in global climate talks due to climax in December in Copenhagen, Brazil's chief negotiator said Tuesday.
"Talks on setting goals for emissions reductions are further along than talks on financing," Brazilian Ambassador Luiz Alberto Figueiredo Machado told a group of overseas reporters. "We think financing is critical to success of the climate talks."
Negotiators from more than 180 countries are due to meet in Copenhagen later in November for talks that will extend into December. The aim is to agree on possible changes to the Kyoto Protocol on combating global warming.
"Brazil is hoping for a robust global accord at Copenhagen," said Machado. "We don't want this opportunity to pass."
Machado said the financing issue could turn out to be both more complex and more prickly than an agreement on goals to reduce emissions.
"The new accord will set specific goals for industrialized nations to reduce emissions, while it will demand specific actions, but not goals, for developing countries to reduce emissions," he said. "There is a consensus that financing for programs in the developing countries will come from the industrialized world."
The problem, Machado said, is agreeing on how such a financing mechanism will work and how much capital it will have available.
"There has been progress on determining the nature of the mechanism, which will probably take the form of a global fund to finance actions combating climate change," Machado said. "But how to constitute the fund is an open question. It's not certain who will finance it or by how much."
As for Brazil itself, the administration of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is due to make an announcement this coming weekend regarding proposed actions to combat global warming.
Machado declined to discuss possible content of the announcement. "It is still being determined and at the highest levels of government," Machado said. " President Lula himself will determine what actions Brazil proposes to take."
Press reports have indicated Brazil may be willing to set a voluntary goal for reduction of greenhouse gases. Brazilian officials have also indicated the possibility of setting goals for reduction of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.
"Brazil will do its part under the accord's philosophy, which calls for reduction in emissions among developing countries from what is called the 'business as usual curve,'" said Machado. "We will be part of the solution not part of the problem. Indeed, Brazil is already taking actions that most other countries are not taking."
Such actions include development of the nation's hydroelectric energy potential and the systematic use of renewal fuels from sugarcane and other crops. "We are much closer to being a clean-energy economy than most," Machado said. "Something like 45% of our total energy comes from renewable sources. In industrialized countries, the comparable figure is something like 5%."