Bonn, Germany, November 3, 1999

Mr. President,

It is a pleasure to participate in this fifth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention1 on Climate Change.

I had the opportunity to take part in the United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development, in 1992, and I am happy to see that the Climate Change Convention, of which Brazil was the first signatory, represented a milestone in the international relations and has indeed evolved significantly in these past ten years.

The Brazilian government continues to assign great importance to issues related to climate change, as underlined by President Fernando Henrique Cardoso in his address to the special session of the U.N. General Assembly in 1997, five years after the Rio Conference.

Brazil made a special effort to help bring the negotiations of the Kyoto Protocol2 to its successful conclusion, and signed it last year.

Brazil has been complying with its commitments under the Convention. The first National Communication3 is due next year and it will be submitted, with a significant contribution to methodological work on the estimation of emissions in a tropical country with important agricultural and forestry sectors. Our energy is very clean: over ninety percent of our electricity is generated by hydroelectric power plants and our fleet of cars runs on a mixture of fossil gasoline and renewable alcohol. In spite of this, or actually in addition to this, there are important energy efficiency and conservation programs going on in Brazil.

We are taking all the steps to work further to inflect the curve of growth of our emissions, with the use of the Clean Development Mechanism4 when the Kyoto Protocol enters into force. The careful implementation of the CDM, with credible emission baselines on a project by project basis will guarantee that Brazil will continue to make a significant contribution towards the achievement of the objective of the Convention.

The Brazilian government has been looking at all sectors of activities5 in the country from the point of view of climate change. In particular, careful note has been taken of the interest of the forestry sector in contributing to the mitigation of climate change. This will be explored in the light of the scientific findings of the Special Report on Land-Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to be available next year. I can assure you that whatever is done by Brazil in this area will be fully consistent with the objective of the Convention.

It follows that no license for further increases of fossil emissions6 in Annex I countries will result from the protection of our forests, which will continue to be pursued as a matter of national priority. At the same time, Brazil will continue to seek acknowledgement of its specific needs and concerns relative to forestry, under the terms of the Convention provisions on adaptation to the adverse effects of climate change.

With regard to institutional actions, the Government of Brazil has recently established an Interministerial Commission on Global Climate Change to coordinate all government actions in this area. This Commission has been charged with coordinating the national positions on climate change and of giving the governmental approval to Clean Development Mechanism projects. Most importantly, the Commission will be asked to introduce climate change considerations into public policies in all relevant sectors, including energy, transportation, agriculture, forestry, industry7 and waste management.

The President of Brazil has sent to Congress last month the plan of government actions for the next four years. The dimension of sustainability has been clearly included in this plan as a consideration that will permeate our development in all sectors. The federal budget, starting next year, includes for the first time an appropriation for a national program on global climate change.

We are now constructively engaged in the implementation of the Buenos Aires Plan of Action8. Brazil wants the Kyoto Protocol to come into force and to be effective. We will try to ratify this instrument as soon as possible and we call for all signatory States to do the same. This will be an important first step in dealing with the mitigation of climate change. The job we have ahead of us now is to deal with the regulation of the Kyoto Mechanisms9 and with the compliance issue. A strong compliance system is necessary to guarantee the successful implementation of the Kyoto treaty and also to provide incentives for the use of the Clean Development Mechanism.

Brazil continues to work towards the successful establishment of the remaining elements of the Clean Development Mechanism. The issues of nature and scope, as well as the methodological and institutional ones must be dealt with expeditiously. It is important that the Executive Board of the Clean Development Mechanism and the designation of the operating entities take place soon in order to allow for the certification of emission reduction in project activities.

We are confident that these tasks can be accomplished at the next Conference of the Parties. Doing so, however, is only one aspect of the problem. In order for all this to be effective, it is essential that the Kyoto Protocol comes into force, through the ratification10 of the required number of Parties, particularly those of Annex I11 that comprise 55% of the CO2 emissions in 1990.

In this context, I took note with special pleasure of the statement of Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in the opening session of this Conference, when he called for an effort to bring the Kyoto Protocol into force by 2002, when we will complete ten years after the Rio Conference.

I will be using this opportunity here in Bonn to entertain conversations with my colleagues on all issues that may contribute to effectively turn the Kyoto agreements into reality.

Thank you very much

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1 Convention signed by Brazil during the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (RIO-92), with the objective of achieving stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. Thus far, 181 Parties, including Brazil, have ratified the Convention. Convention signed by Brazil during the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (RIO-92), with the objective of achieving stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. Thus far, 181 Parties, including Brazil, have ratified the Convention.

2 Protocol adopted during the 3rd Conference of the Parties to the Climate Change Convention in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997, according to which industrialized countries should reduce their combined greenhouse gas emissions by at least 5 per cent below 1990 levels by the period 2008 to 2012.

Protocol adopted during the 3 Conference of the Parties to the Climate Change Convention in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997, according to which industrialized countries should reduce their combined greenhouse gas emissions by at least 5 per cent below 1990 levels by the period 2008 to 2012.

3 The National Communication is a report that will include the national inventory of net emissions of all greenhouse gases not controlled by the Montreal Protocol and the general description of steps taken or envisaged to implement the Convention.

The National Communication is a report that will include the national inventory of net emissions of all greenhouse gases not controlled by the Montreal Protocol and the general description of steps taken or envisaged to implement the Convention.

4 Mechanism defined by the Kyoto Protocol with the purpose of assisting Parties not included in Annex I in achieving sustainable development and assisting Parties included in Annex I in achieving compliance with their quantified emission limitation and reduction commitments.

Mechanism defined by the Kyoto Protocol with the purpose of assisting Parties not included in Annex I in achieving sustainable development and assisting Parties included in Annex I in achieving compliance with their quantified emission limitation and reduction commitments.

5 The activities of the following sectors generate greenhouse gas emissions (CO2, CH4, N2O, CO, HFC, NOX, CF4, C2F6, SF6, among others): energy, industry, land use and forestry, agriculture and livestock, solvents and waste management.

The activities of the following sectors generate greenhouse gas emissions (CO, CH, NO, CO, HFC, NO, CF, CF, SFamong others): energy, industry, land use and forestry, agriculture and livestock, solvents and waste management.

6 Fossil emissions are those originated from the combustion of fossil fuels (petroleum, natural gas, and coal).

7 Industries can reduce emissions by replacing fuels intensive in greenhouse gas emissions by product unit; enhancing the energy efficiency of production processes; and making use of energy from renewable sources or from sources that do not release greenhouse gases.

Industries can reduce emissions by replacing fuels intensive in greenhouse gas emissions by product unit; enhancing the energy efficiency of production processes; and making use of energy from renewable sources or from sources that do not release greenhouse gases.

8 Decision 1 of the 4th Conference of the Parties aimed at strengthening the implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and preparing for the future entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol to the Convention, and to maintain the political momentum towards these aims. It views, in particular, the regulation of the mechanisms established in the Protocol by COP-6 (end of 2000).

Decision 1 of the 4 Conference of the Parties aimed at strengthening the implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and preparing for the future entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol to the Convention, and to maintain the political momentum towards these aims. It views, in particular, the regulation of the mechanisms established in the Protocol by COP-6 (end of 2000).

9 Art. 6 Joint Implementation and Art. 17 Emissions Trading.

Art. 6 Joint Implementation and Art. 17 Emissions Trading.

10 Countries that have ratified the Kyoto Protocol: Maldives, Antigua and Barbuda, Micronesia, Panama, El Salvador, Guatemala, Paraguay, Fiji, Tuvalu, Uzbekistan, Niue, Trinidad and Tobago, Bahamas, Georgia, Jamaica, Cyprus.

12 Annex I Countries: Australia, Austria, Belarus(*), Belgium, Bulgaria(*), Canada, Croatia(*), Czech Republic(*), Denmark, European Economic Community, Estonia(*), Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary(*), Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia(*), Liechtenstein, Lithuania(*), Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland(*), Portugal, Romania(*), Russian Federation(*), Slovakia(*), Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine(*), United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America (* countries that are undergoing the process of transition to a market economy)

Countries that have ratified the Kyoto Protocol: Maldives, Antigua and Barbuda, Micronesia, Panama, El Salvador, Guatemala, Paraguay, Fiji, Tuvalu, Uzbekistan, Niue, Trinidad and Tobago, Bahamas, Georgia, Jamaica, Cyprus. Annex I Countries: Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, European Economic Community, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America (* countries that are undergoing the process of transition to a market economy)

Annex II Countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, European Economic Community, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America. The remaining countries listed neither in Annex I nor in Annex II are known as Non-Annex I Countries, including Brazil.