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12. The Amazon Is a Carbon Bomb: How Can Brazil and the World Work Together to Avoid Setting It Off?
- Author:
- Monica de Bolle
- Publication Date:
- 10-2019
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Peterson Institute for International Economics
- Abstract:
- The fires in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest in the summer of 2019 represent a government policy failure over many years, especially recently, as Brazilian public agencies that are supposed to curb man-made fires have been deliberately weakened. In keeping with his far-right nationalist campaign promises, President Jair Bolsonaro’s government has intentionally backed away from efforts to combat climate change and preserve the environment, which has emboldened farmers, loggers, and other players to engage in predatory activities in the rainforest. De Bolle calculates that if the current rate of deforestation is maintained over the next few years, the Amazon would be dangerously close to the estimated “tipping point” as soon as 2021, beyond which the rainforest can no longer generate enough rain to sustain itself. The tragic fires have demonstrated that protecting the Amazon rainforest is a global cause. The international attention provides an opportunity for the governments of Brazil and the United States to stop denying climate change and cooperate on strategies to preserve the rainforest and develop ways to sustainably use its natural resources. The international community should revive and expand the Amazon Fund to invest in ways to reduce deforestation through the possible use of payments for environmental services. Brazil should adopt and enforce regulations on land use in the Amazon region while cracking down on illegal uses, such as logging and mining, and should restore conditional rural credit policies to fight deforestation.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Environment, and Jair Bolsonaro
- Political Geography:
- Brazil and South America
13. Darkness at noon: deforestation in the new authoritarian era
- Author:
- Susanna B. Hecht
- Publication Date:
- 12-2019
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for International Environmental Studies, The Graduate Institute (IHEID)
- Abstract:
- The dramatic Amazon fires images of Au-gust 2019 triggered a geopolitical outcry. Brazilian President Bolsonaro, however, unflinchingly continues to support his destructive model of Amazonian development. This article recalls the extent of the disaster and delves into the reasons behind such disdain for environmental concerns.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Climate Change, Development, and Environment
- Political Geography:
- Brazil and Latin America
14. With or Without You: How the G20 Could Advance Global Action towards Climate-Friendly Sustainable Development
- Author:
- Steffen Bauer, Axel Berger, and Gabriela Iacobuta
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS)
- Abstract:
- With a collective responsibility for 80% of global greenhouse gas emissions, while representing 80% of global wealth, it is imperative that the countries of the G20 throw their weight behind the implementation of both the Paris Climate Agree-ment and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Develop¬ment. In the past, the G20 has demonstrated that it can do that. The G20 Summit in November 2015 in Antalya, Turkey, provided strong support for the climate agreement signed a month later at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris. In 2016 in Hangzhou, China, the G20 adopted an Action Plan on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Develop¬ment and committed to “further align its work” with the 2030 Agenda. Even though both agendas have emerged in the multilateral context of the United Nations system, the G20 is expected to exert strong political leadership to address global climate change and to achieve sustainable development. Yet, since 2017 the G20 has struggled to provide such leadership, as support for multilateral commitments, especially those involving ambitious climate actions, appears to be fading. Crucially, opposition to strong multilateral climate policy in the US and Brazil resorts to outright climate denialism at the highest levels of government. These developments are challenging the G20, and BRICS and the G7 for that matter, to sustain support for multilateral commitments on climate and sustainable development. The rise of populist and unilaterally minded parties in European club members may further the risk of side-lining climate and sustainability-related issues in the G20 process. This does not bode well at a time when the G20’s support could be a vital ingredient for the success of the United Nations’ summits on climate action and sustainable development, both scheduled to convene in New York in September 2019 – less than three months after the Osaka G20 Summit in Japan. Following our analysis, we identify four ways forward that should be conducive to harnessing the G20’s economic weight and political clout to push more ambitious global action towards climate-friendly sustainable development, in spite of apparent discrepancies between domestic agendas and global understandings.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, G20, Sustainable Development Goals, and Political Science
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Brazil, United Nations, and United States of America
15. The Brazilian model of Investment Agreements and Socio-environmental Safeguards
- Author:
- Maria Elena Rodriguez and Gabriel de Barros Torres
- Publication Date:
- 03-2018
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- BRICS Policy Center
- Abstract:
- With the purpose of contributing to expanding transnational investment flows, Brazil signed, in 2015, a series of Cooperation and Investment Facilitation Agreements (CIFAs) with African and Latin American countries. Among its provisions, the CIFAs feature distinctive characteristics in terms of direct (and indirect) expropriation, corporate social responsibility, dispute settlement mechanisms and national treatment clauses – ultimately, aiming to provide greater legal certainty for investors. However, civil society organizations have warned against the potential impact of this new model of investment agreements on the autonomy of states to establish regulations in the public interest. As such, this Quarterly Brief seeks to analyze similarities and differences between the new Brazilian CIFAs and traditional bilateral investment agreements – as well as to evaluate them in light of alternative frameworks, elaborated by civil society networks, aimed at balancing investment promotion with human and environmental rights protection.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Environment, Treaties and Agreements, Regulation, Social Justice, Land Rights, and Public Health
- Political Geography:
- Brazil and Latin America
16. Gender and Energy approaches by BASIC countries
- Author:
- Alice Amorim and Marco Antonio Teixeira
- Publication Date:
- 01-2018
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- BRICS Policy Center
- Abstract:
- This Policy Brief analysis how the BASIC countries have incorporated gender and energy issues in their NDCs and assesses some of the interrelations between key energy and gender inequalities of the bloc.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Energy Policy, Gender Issues, Renewable Energy, and Sustainability
- Political Geography:
- China, India, South Africa, and Brazil
17. The Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification Mechanisms for Developing Countries under the UNFCCC: an analysis of the BASIC countries Biennial Update Reports
- Author:
- Alice Amorim
- Publication Date:
- 11-2017
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- BRICS Policy Center
- Abstract:
- This Policy Brief has three main objectives: Firstly, to present the basic international policy framework for the MRV for developing country Parties under the UNFCCC; Secondly, to provide a short comparative analysis of the latest version of the BURs presented by the countries that belong to the BASIC bloc, with an emphasis on the national MRV component of the Reports; Thirdly and lastly, to provide a set of policy recommendations for the BASIC countries.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Development, Developing World, Regulation, and Sustainability
- Political Geography:
- China, India, South Africa, and Brazil
18. Brazil’s Perception of the Visegrad Group: Not a Strategic but a Prospective Partnership
- Author:
- Carolina Salgado and Marek Wasinski
- Publication Date:
- 03-2016
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Polish Institute of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- The Visegrad Group is still a new label among policy makers as well as public and private investors, scholars and media in Brazil. However, since their accession to the EU in 2004, and the financial crisis that started in 2008, the four Central European countries in this group have started to look beyond Europe in order to formulate their economic and political agenda, aiming to boost partnerships, for example among the biggest South American countries such as Brazil. V4 and Brazil should build momentum to deepen cooperation in the most promising prospective areas such as trade, military, tourism and education.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Trade and Finance, Politics, and Financial Crisis
- Political Geography:
- Brazil
19. Increasing Access to Medicines: Leveraging Brazil’s Experience
- Author:
- Erika Malich and Sarah Marion
- Publication Date:
- 07-2015
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI)
- Abstract:
- The second CIGI Graduate Fellows policy brief examines Brazil's success in ensuring access to essential pharmaceuticals for its citizens, and how this success can be leveraged for other developing countries in similar circumstances. Five unique factors underlie this success, including, among others, a sustained government commitment to public health systems and an indigenous capacity to produce pharmaceuticals domestically, the emergence of a civil society coalition built around the norm of health equity, and the international harmonization of quality assurance and clinical standards related to pharmaceutical research and development. While it is unlikely that other developing countries lacking indigenous manufacturing capacity can achieve similar results in the near to medium-term future, it is instead recommended that private foundations and large bilateral aid country providers invest in a global funding mechanism. This fund would use pre-existing, innovative financing mechanisms to scale up production in the handful of developing countries that have achieved near self-sufficiency in pharmaceutical production, for the benefit of populations beyond their borders.
- Topic:
- Health Care Policy
- Political Geography:
- Brazil, South America, and Latin America
20. Do Public Development Banks Hurt Growth? Evidence from Brazil
- Author:
- Monica de Bolle
- Publication Date:
- 09-2015
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Peterson Institute for International Economics
- Abstract:
- Public lending by the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) may have done more harm than good in Brazil, adversely affecting real interest rates and productivity growth. Specifically, BNDES's large amounts of subsidized lending are responsible for substantial credit market segmentation, choking off monetary policy transmission. As a result, to maintain price stability the Central Bank of Brazil is forced to raise interest rates more than it might do otherwise in the absence of BNDES lending. Restoring Brazil's capacity to grow in the medium term requires a thorough rethinking of the role of BNDES. In particular, the bank's lending rates should be aligned with market prices, term and risk premia, while taking into account that, with an adequate transparency framework, public development banks can increase private sector participation instead of crowding it out.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Markets
- Political Geography:
- Brazil and Latin America
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