WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lawmakers from the world's major industrial nations and five emerging economies gather in Brazil from Wednesday to discuss a global climate change treaty currently under consideration.
By Lesley Wroughton
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lawmakers from the world's major industrial nations and five emerging economies gather in Brazil from Wednesday to discuss a global climate change treaty currently under consideration.
This will be the first gathering of legislators from wealthy and developing countries to help shape the post Kyoto Protocol agreement, World Bank Vice President for Latin America, Pamela Cox, told Reuters.
"Legislators are more than just another voice," Cox said. "In many countries they are the ones that actually sponsor and enact the laws that may govern any future climate change agenda," she added.
!ADVERTISEMENT!Cox, who will attend the conference in Brasilia, said reducing the carbon emissions that cause climate change requires a global solution.
"It is such an important global issue that it can't be a bilateral discussion, you need to engage society across the board," she said. "I don't think there has been any other sort of initiative or event like this."
The meeting of 100 lawmakers includes the Group of Eight industrial countries -- Britain, the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Canada and Japan -- and fast-developing nations China, Brazil, India, South Africa and Mexico.
The Kyoto Protocol was aimed at traditionally industrial powers and their emissions and did not target emerging and developing economies such as China and India. The post Kyoto treaty being negotiated will include all nations to ensure cuts in all forms of greenhouse gas emissions.
Brazil's concerned its involvement in a multilateral treaty will undermine its sovereignty over its Amazon rainforest region. Yet it is the world's fourth largest producer of greenhouse gases, virtually all of it as a result of deforestation.
PROTECTING FORESTS
The World Bank is leading efforts to develop private-sector and other solutions to curb greenhouse gas emissions, including those that emanate from deforestation.
In October, the Bank said it was developing a Forest Carbon Partnership Facility that would provide financial incentives to countries for protecting and replanting tropical forests, which store huge amounts of carbon that causes climate change.
Deforestation contributes 20 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions, more than all the world's cars, trucks, trains and airplanes combined. By creating economic value for tropical forests, the facility can help developing nations like Brazil generate new revenue for poverty alleviation.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is expected to address the conference. He has argued that rich countries are responsible for 60 percent of the gas emissions and therefore need to shoulder the responsibility.
Brazil, like other developing nations, is also worried that solutions to climate change could hamper economic development.
"Both sides need more understanding of each other's point of view because it's a global issue and we are all in this together," Cox said. "These countries need to be seen as full partners. It isn't just who pays but who plays, and we're expecting the G8 will pay and these middle-income countries will play and we need to figure out how that will work out," she added.
Cox said it was important to balance development and environmental needs.
"We would like to help on the debate but also to put the development focus into the debate. It isn't an either/or," she said. "While money is helpful, it is also important that they have a voice in the process, that they feel heard, that their interests are respected. If you don't do that you won't have a long-run sustainable solution," she added.
(Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
