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BRAZIL—President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed a law Tuesday requiring that Brazil cut greenhouse gas emissions by 39 percent by 2020, meeting a commitment made at the Copenhagen climate talks.<\/p>\n
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Brazil announced at the summit a “voluntary commitment” to reduce CO2 emissions by between 36.1 and 38.9 percent in the next 10 years.<\/p>\n
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The new law, however, is subject to several decrees setting out responsibilities and regulations for the farming, industrial, energy, and environmental sectors.<\/p>\n
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Lula is expected to sign the decrees in January after consulting scientists and other experts, officials said.<\/p>\n
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Despite its ambitious targets, Greenpeace’s top representative in Brazil, Sergio Leitao, called it merely a list of good intentions and accused Lula of using double standards in environmental issues.<\/p>\n
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“Brazil usually makes good speeches on the international stage, as in Copenhagen, but in practice it doesn’t keep its word,” he told reporters.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>Before signing the new law, in fact, Lula vetoed three of its provisions, including a reference to “promoting the development of clean energy sources and the gradual phasing out of energy from fossil fuels.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Environment Minister Carlos Minc said he was was pleased with the new law because it showed Brazil’s determination to respect the pledges it made in Copenhagen.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “It doesn’t matter if the Copenhagen summit didn’t get the results we wanted. We will still meet our goals,” he told reporters.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The climate change conference held in the Danish capital ended last week with a non-binding agreement that exposed the stark divide between rich and developing nations.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A total of $30 billion was pledged from 2010-2012 to help poor countries in the firing line of climate change, and rich nations set a goal of providing $100 billion annually in aid by 2020.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It established a goal of limiting warming to 2 degrees C (3.6 degrees F), but did not impose binding targets to reduce the emissions of gases that scientists say are heating up the world’s atmosphere to dangerous levels.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Copenhagen agreement was put together by leaders of the United States, China, India, Brazil, South Africa, and major European nations, after it became clear the 194-nation summit was in danger of failure.<\/p>\n Related Links:<\/strong><\/p>\n Electric car Think to be assembled in U.S. in 2011<\/a><\/p>\n Sarkozy wants French carbon tax to take effect in July<\/a><\/p>\n A conversation with Indian youth activist Ruchi Jain<\/a><\/p>\n
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