Dear Mr. President:

1. We hereby propose the creation of the Interministerial Commission on Global Climate Change, with the purpose of coordinating the governmental actions relative to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its subsidiary instruments to which Brazil becomes a Party.

2. The global climate change results from the increase due to human activity in the atmospheric concentration of the so-called greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and other gases of industrial origin. There is scientific evidence that, at least partially, the increase of about half a degree Celsius in the planet’s mean surface temperature observed in the last a hundred and fifty years can be attributed to greenhouse gases emitted by man. It is expected that in the next century such an increase may reach up to three degrees Celsius, followed by an increase in the mean sea level rise of around half a meter.

3. International concern with such a phenomenon led to the negotiation, between 1990 and 1992, of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, a practically universal treaty today, to which more than 170 countries have become Parties. The Convention acknowledges that climate change is a problem that involves a common but differentiated responsibility of all countries. In particular, it acknowledges the historical responsibility of industrialized countries and, consequently, that such countries should reduce their emission levels. Developing countries, including Brazil, are urged to adopt measures that limit the necessary growth of their emissions by introducing adequate measures, relying on the provision of financial resources and access to the technology of industrialized countries. Moreover, Brazil’s initial commitment under the Convention is to prepare and periodically update inventories of emissions by sources and removals by sinks of all greenhouse gases generated by human activities.

4. The First Conference of the Parties to the Convention, held in Berlin, in 1995, recognized that the commitment of industrialized countries of stabilizing their emissions by 2000 at the 1990 levels was not adequate, and initiated, by means of the Berlin Mandate, a negotiating process viewing the adoption of a Protocol with stronger commitments for such countries. As a result, the Kyoto Protocol was adopted in 1997 and has already been signed by 59 countries, including Brazil, and may enter into force in the next two or three years. Under such a Protocol, the industrialized countries committed themselves to reduce their emission total by 5.2% em relation to the 1990 level.

5. Brazil has been advocating that the common but differentiated responsibility of countries should be used as an objective criterion for sharing the burden of mitigating or making the global climate change less severe, which is sometimes referred to as the "polluter pays" principle. Furthermore, Brazil has submitted a proposal of elements to the Kyoto Protocol containing a Clean Development Fund that would be raised with fines for excess of emissions in industrialized countries. Such a fund would be used to finance the introduction of new technologies that generate less emissions and allow a cleaner development process to take place in still developing countries, such as Brazil. With modifications, and thanks also to a joint political action with the United States, such an element of the Brazilian proposal has been included in the Kyoto Protocol. Therefore, in one of its articles, the Kyoto Protocol establishes the creation of a Clean Development Mechanism by means of which international emission reduction certificates in individual project activities are issued, which can be used by industrialized countries to demonstrate compliance with their emission reduction targets.

6. The prospect of entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol, with its potential for mobilizing resources of the order of many billions of dollars a year, a portion of which may be directed to the Clean Development Mechanism, makes it urgent that the Government establishes a formal mechanism to aim such a potential at national development priorities.

7. Additionally, there is the need to intensify the actions that are already being taken by the Ministry of Science and Technology, together with the Ministries of External Relations, of Mines and Energy, and of Environment, regarding compliance with the commitments in force for Brazil, as accepted under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

8. As there is not a specific body within the structure of the Federal Public Administration to coordinate and integrate the appropriate actions for the implementation of the necessary measures, the present decree draft aims at improving such a situation by proposing the creation of an Interministerial Commission on Global Climate Change.

9. The greenhouse gas emissions originating from human activities include, under the Convention, the energy, transportation, industry, agriculture, forestry and waste management sectors, and that is the reason why we propose the participation in the Commission of the Ministries of Mines and Energy, of Transports, of Development, Industry and Trade, of Agriculture and Supply, and of Environment, which are responsible for such areas. The Extraordinary Ministry of Special Projects and the Ministry of Budgeting and Management have also been included taking into account their competence with regard to the long-term view of Brazil, as well as the Ministry of External Relations, because of the international negotiations that will continue to take place.

10. The Ministry of Science and Technology, which has already been developing the national activities towards compliance with the initial Brazilian commitment under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change shall hold the presidency and exercise the functions of executive secretariat of the Commission, as the scientific aspects of global climate change will continue to predominate in the political negotiations in the future and the scientific knowledge needed to subsidize the discussions may be made available by means of existing foment instruments of such a ministry. Because of the horizontal character of the scientific activity – which includes all the activity sectors involved in the climate change issue – the Ministry of Science and Technology may also conciliate different sectorial interests.

11. In the future, with the entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol, the Commission shall analyze the limitation or reduction of emissions in projects of different sectors. For this reason, it is important that the presidency be in charge of a ministry that does not have a sectoral responsibility, such as the Ministry of Science and Technology.

12. It should be noted that the creation of the Interministerial Commission shall be followed by the strengthening of the existing structure at the Ministry of Science and Technology so that the activities related to the climate change issue – that are now being developed by such a ministry – be implemented and executed appropriately.

13. Under such conditions, and considering the growing relevance of the issue in the international relations scenario, as well as the complexity and multifaceted aspect of climate-related matters, this issue requires the convergence of actions by several sectorial governmental bodies, the reason why we submit the present decree creating the Interministerial Commission on Global Climate Change to your analysis.

Respectfully,