Reducing Carbon Emission by Slowing Deforestation: Initiatives in Brazil

Brazil could make a substantial contribution to climate change mitigation. Should the UNFCCC include a “reduction of emissions from deforestation and degradation” (REDD) mechanism in its post-2012 framework? About 75 per cent of Brazil’s CO2 emissions do not result from the burning of fossil fuels, as is the case in the industrializes countries and in countries such as China and India, but rather from land-use changes, specifically deforestation and fires in its tropical forests.