In order to enhance its efforts to address the causes and effects of climate change and biodiversity loss in it territory, Brazil has created a space for dialogue between Government and civil society. This effort includes two particularly innovative initiatives: the Brazilian Forum on Climate Change and the Paulista Forum on Global Climate Change and Biodiversity.
The Brazilian Forum on Climate Change (known by its Portuguese acronym FBMC) was created in 2000. Its initial objective was to prepare the Brazilian President at the time, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, to negotiate with other States at the upcoming Conference of the Parties (COP) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Before the COP, the President organized a meeting with representatives from civil society, academia, the private sector, and government. The aim of this meeting was to provide advice to the Brazilian delegation that would participate and negotiate at the COP.
Since its initial convening, the Forum has continued to meet and function. The Brazilian President presides over the Brazilian Forum, which also includes representatives from all the Ministries (especially those relating to the Environment, Foreign Affairs, and Science and Technology), civil society, and other invited guests. The President nominates an Executive Secretary, which may be a member of the government or of civil society. The Forum envisions a number of Thematic Chambers (including energy, sustainable development, forests, etc.), which can be headed by representatives from either the government or civil society. During its first four years of existence, the most successful Thematic Chamber was the one related to the impacts of the climate change on Brazil’s water resources, which was directed by the National Water Agency (Agência Nacional das Águas, or ANA).
The Brazilian Forum has supported a variety of climate change-related initiatives by the Government and civil society by building public awareness, improving participation, and promoting stakeholder dialogue. The FBMC has facilitated partnerships between the Government and universities, research institutions, NGOs, the business sector, and the media, among others. It follows up on negotiations, conducts awareness-raising and capacity-building activities (including the preparation of educational videos), convened technical meetings and public debates, and prepared various publications.
Created in 2005, the Paulista Forum on Global Climate Change and Biodiversity follows the general approach of the Brazilian Forum, but its innovations are to join the themes of climate change and biodiversity and to do so at the sub-national level. The Paulista Forum promotes synergies between the two themes, aggregating not only the UNFCCC and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), but also all others MEAs related to these themes. These other agreements include, for example, the Ozone Agreement (Vienna Convention and Montreal Protocol), the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the Ramsar Convention, and the Inter-American Convention for the Protection and Conservation of Sea Turtles.
Besides the inclusion of a new theme, the Paulista Forum also has more specific objectives, including building capacity of civil society to follow the COPs relating to both themes - Climate Changes and Biodiversity. It also seeks to build the capacity of the private sector to undertake projects that make use of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), and the capacity of the Government to elaborate state policies on climate change and biodiversity.
As its name suggests, the Paulista Forum focuses on the Brazilian State of São Paulo. This State is one of the most important States in Brazil’s economy, being responsible for about 40% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Moreover, this State is heavily industrial, hosting a significant portion of the industrial activities that generate greenhouse gas emissions; and it has the highest number of circulating vehicles in the country. The territory of the State of São Paulo also includes one of the last significant Atlantic Forest areas, considered to be one of the five main hotspots in the world by the Conservation International. For all these reasons the creation of the Paulista Forum has significance not only for Brazil, but also in the global context.
The decree establishing the Brazilian forum is available at http://www.mct.gov.br/
clima/ingles/brasil/d280800.htm For more information, see http://www.forumclimabr.org.br or contact Mr. Fabio Feldman fabio.feldmann@uol.com.br