With the goal of assisting the President of the Republic in taking decisions about national strategies and policies necessary for sustainable development, compatible with Agenda 21, and in light of the complexity of this task and the resulting need for the joint involvement of a large number of institutions, the government of Brazil established a Interministerial Committee for Sustainable Development (CIDES), by Presidential Decree (Decree no. 1160, of June 21, 1994).
CIDES was chaired by the Minister of Planning and Budget, and consisted of other Ministers of State.
As part of its structure, three agencies were created under CIDES:
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Coordinating Group for External Relations, under the responsibility of the Ministry of External Relations, to coordinate the work of preparing and defining Brazilian positions in the international negotiations about sustainable development, administer the international implications resulting from decisions taken about national strategies and policies necessary for sustainable development, and accompany the activities of other countries in carrying out their international commitments resulting from the Rio Conference;
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Coordinating Group for Climate Change, under the responsibility of the Ministry of Science and Technology, to coordinate the implementation of commitments resulting from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change; and
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Coordinating Group for Biological Diversity, under the responsibility of the Ministry of Environment and Legal Amazonia, to coordinate the implementation of the commitments of the Convention on Biological Diversity.
Under the guidance of CIDES, responsibility for the implementation of the U. N. Framework Convention on Climate Change was given to the Ministry of Science and Technology.
As set out in Article 2 of the Decree under which it was created (Decree no. 1160, of June 21, 1994), CIDES has the following responsibilities:
Propose national strategies and policies necessary for the implementation of the activities described in Agenda 21, with special attention to their incorporation in overall planning and budgeting within the jurisdiction of the Federal Administration;
Propose the legal instruments necessary for the implementation of Agenda 21, to comply with the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, and to meet obligations under the international accords and conventions;
Propose national criteria and priorities for obtaining the international financial, technical and technological resources necessary for the implementation of Agenda 21; and
Accompany and evaluate the implementation of the planned activities.
