Can Brazil consider itself an international leader in addressing climate change?
Brazil is an international leader in terms of renewable energy. Around 60 percent of our energy matrix is based on hydrological power. We have flex-fuel cars using any combination of ethanol and gasoline, and now there is a possibility to produce other biofuels. On the other hand, Brazil emits enormous amounts of carbon into the atmosphere due to Amazon deforestation. Seventy-five percent of Brazilian emissions come from deforestation. The challenge for Brazil is to change from the current development model (forest is a barrier to economic development) to a sustainable one (forest conservation is the basis of economic growth). Brazil has all the conditions to promote this change. In this sense, Brazil is a leader. But like other tropical countries, Brazil needs some type of compensation from the international community to do that. The government has recently come out with statistics showing a sharp decrease in the rate of deforestation. Are these statistics reliable, and will this tren
