The Challenge of Limiting Greenhouse Gas Emissions Through Activities implemented Jointly in Developing Countries: A Brazilian Perspective

This paper addresses, from the Brazilian perspective, the main problems with Joint Implementation/Activities Implemented Jointly (JI/AIJ) between industrialized (Annex I) and developing (non-Annex I) countries, as defined by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Four possible GHG emissions abatement measures are presented for Brazil: forest protection, reforestation projects for carbon sequestration or charcoal manufacturing, use of ethanol produced from sugar cane as a car fuel, and electrical energy conservation through an increase in end-use efficiencies. These four case studies form the basis of a discussion regarding the validity of developing countries' concerns about JI/AIJ. Recommendations are offered for overcoming the present shortcomings of JI/AIJ in developing countries. The primary conclusion is that Annex I countries' funding of JI/AIJ projects in developing countries in return for GHG emissions credits is not the best means to implement the UNFCCC. However, JI/AIJ projects can be a productive means of preventing global climate change if combined with other measures, including GHG emissions reduction targets for all countries involved in JI/AIJ projects and limits on the percentage of industrialized countries' emissions reductions that can be met through projects in developing countries