Canada has emerged as a serious climate criminal in the last two weeks in Copenhagen by weakening its pledged emissions cuts. But Brazil has emerged as potential climate heroes in their determination to both cut emissions, cut deforestation, and use 10 per cent of an oil exploration fund to invest in climate change adaption.
Of course, oil exploration, drilling and burning will continue in Brazil but by supporting sustainable production chains, developing policy to reduce carbon emissions, and further supporting "scientific analysis of impacts and vulnerabilities," hopefully Brazil's Climate Fund will make the precise impact of climate change in Brazil even more clear, and further encourage politicians to act to cut emissions, even more steeply than the 40 per cent below business-as-usual rates by 2020. Norway, for the record, is pledging carbon neutrality by 2030.
No matter what happens in Copenhagen, cutting deforestation is essential: the rainforests are the lungs of the world, and replacing the land with carbon-intensive farming, agriculture, and soy or meat production is even worse. Today in Copenhagen Hilary Clinton proposed an international fund of $100 billion each year for a decade to preserve rainforests and help the world's most vulnerable people cope with the effects of climate change.
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