Shifting ground: Brazil tackles climate change and deforestation, but rapid growth, energy needs undermine progress

Brazil possesses a relatively low-carbon energy matrix, but its overall greenhouse gas emissions are dominated by agriculture and deforestation. While deforestation rates have declined, rapid economic growth, increasing energy demand, and the discovery of pre-salt offshore oil fields threaten to increase energy-related emissions. Domestically, climate policy is shifting from a foreign relations issue to a central political topic, with sub-national initiatives—particularly in São Paulo—pushing for more ambitious absolute targets. Internationally, Brazil positions itself as a broker between BASIC countries and Annex I nations, emphasizing its leadership in biofuels and REDD while maintaining a commitment to the sovereign right to development.

• Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions are primarily driven by land use rather than energy; 83 per cent of emissions stem from agriculture, land-use change, and forest management.
• The Brazilian energy system is notably renewable-heavy, with over 45 per cent of primary energy from renewables and 84 per cent of electricity generated by hydroelectric plants as of 2009.
• Several factors are increasing the carbon intensity of Brazil's energy matrix, including economic growth expected to exceed 7 per cent in 2010, a tripling of energy demand by 2030, and the discovery of pre-salt offshore oil fields.
• Sub-national governments are driving higher climate ambitions; the State of São Paulo adopted a law in 2009 to reduce GHG emissions by 20 per cent by 2020 from 2005 levels.
• Brazil's national climate change law, Plano Nacional de Mudanças Climáticas, approved in December 2009, sets voluntary reduction targets of 34.1 to 38.9 per cent below business-as-usual levels by 2020 and aims to cut Amazon deforestation by 72 per cent by 2017.
• In international diplomacy, Brazil advocates for the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, opposes binding targets for non-Annex I countries, and promotes REDD and its sugarcane-based ethanol technology.

APA

Román, M., & Carson, M. (2010). Shifting ground: Brazil tackles climate change and deforestation, but rapid growth, energy needs undermine progress. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-PolicyBrief-ShiftingGroundBrazil-2010.pdf

Chicago

Román, Mikael, and Marcus Carson. Shifting ground: Brazil tackles climate change and deforestation, but rapid growth, energy needs undermine progress. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2010. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-PolicyBrief-ShiftingGroundBrazil-2010.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Román |first1=Mikael |last2=Carson |first2=Marcus |title=Shifting ground: Brazil tackles climate change and deforestation, but rapid growth, energy needs undermine progress |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=2010 |url=https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-PolicyBrief-ShiftingGroundBrazil-2010.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{romn2010shifting, author = {Román, Mikael and Carson, Marcus}, title = {{Shifting ground: Brazil tackles climate change and deforestation, but rapid growth, energy needs undermine progress}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2010}, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-PolicyBrief-ShiftingGroundBrazil-2010.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }