Climate Change – Major International Forum in Brazil with President Lula

Contacts:          Sergio Jellinek               sjellinek@worldbank.org            +1202-2946232

Terry Townshend            Terry.Townshend@gmail.com     +44 (0) 7900912808

 Climate Change – Major International Forum in Brazil with President Lula

- February 20-21 -

Lawmakers from G8 and emerging economies to ‘politically test’ Post 2012 Climate Change Framework

Proposals to be agreed on bio-fuels and forestry ahead of G8 Summit

January 31, 2008, Brasilia, London, Washington, D.C.--- Senior legislators from the G8 countries and from Brazil, China, India, Mexico, and South Africa (the G8+5) are to meet in Brazil on February 20-21 to politically test a draft Post 2012 Climate Change Framework that has been developed by the Global Legislators Organization for a Balanced Environment (GLOBE).  If agreed, the Framework will be formally presented to G8 leaders ahead of the Japanese G8 Summit in Toyako, Hokkaido, Japan, on July 7-9.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is expected to deliver a keynote address during the opening session. Other high-level participants include World Bank Vice President for Latin America and the Caribbean, Pamela Cox, business leaders from companies such as  Petrobras, Vale, and Holcim, key representatives from international organizations, and more then 80 legislators from the G8 and emerging economies.

The event will be formally co-hosted by Brazilian legislators: Congressman Antonio Palocci Filho, Senator Serys Slhessarenko, Senator Cicero Lucena, Congressman Augusto Carvalho, and Senator José Renato Casagrande. They represent different constituencies and political parties in the country.

“The participating 100 senior legislators will have the opportunity to address climate change issues critical to Brazil in Brazil,” said Senator Serys Slhessarenko, head of the Environment Committee of the Brazilian Senate.  “As lawmakers we have been participating in this dialogue for two years and our understanding of the issues and our political will to combat climate change is stronger than ever, illustrated by the robust policy package we are aiming to agree.”

The two-day forum organized by GLOBE International is the latest in a series of global forums on climate change that link directly to the G8 process.  It is being hosted by the Brazilian Congress on behalf of GLOBE International (www.globeinternational.org) and the Alliance of Communicators for Sustainable Development, COM+ (www.complusalliance.org). 

According to GLOBE, the Forum participants are close to the leaderships of the government and opposition parties in their respective countries and have specifically been selected to ensure that any consensus achieved in the Forum is directly relayed to party leaders in these countries.

Rt Hon Elliot Morley MP, GLOBE President & UK Prime Minister’s Representative to the Gleneagles Dialogue, said “At the GLOBE Washington Forum in the US Senate in February 2007 and the GLOBE Berlin Forum in June, we advanced the debate on climate change significantly, showing our leaders where political consensus can be achieved.  In Brasilia we will test and seek to agree a political framework on climate change and supporting policy proposals, including on bio-fuels and market mechanisms that can be presented to G8 and +5 heads of government.”

A special session on technology transfer will feature Brazilian Minister for Science and Technology Sergio Rezende, Anders Wijkman MEP, Chairman of the Swedish Prime Minister’s Adaptation Commission, and former UK Cabinet Minister for Trade & Industry the Rt Hon Stephen Byers MP.

On forestry, legislators from forest-rich African countries will participate in a session with Marina Silva, Brazilian Minister of Environment and Forestry, to agree specific measures to combat deforestation.

“It is critical that legislators from high energy consuming economies get together to build mutual confidence on what a post-2012 agreement on climate change would look like. As lawmakers they can influence the negotiations and create a positive atmosphere at the global level and in their respective countries.  Legislators, with the private sector, are uniquely placed to know what solutions are both practical and politically viable,” said World Bank Vice President for Latin America and the Caribbean, Pamela Cox.

The Post 2012 Climate Change Framework has been authored by Lord Michael Jay, the former UK G8 Sherpa who negotiated the 2005 Gleneagles G8 Summit Agreement.  He has developed the paper in close consultation with legislators from across the G8 and +5 countries, and will present his recommendations on the opening day of the Forum. 

Yoshio Yatsu MP, President of GLOBE Japan and Senior Member of the Liberal Party, said “The GLOBE Forum will be a critical staging point that will begin to identify the political framework for a future agreement on climate change.  Following Brasilia we will convene the same group of senior legislators just prior to the G8 summit.  We will meet in Tokyo to present our conclusions to the Japanese Prime Minister ahead of the G8 summit.”

The Forum will also agree a political statement on bio-fuels, and policy proposals that have been developed by the G8 and +5 legislators in consultation with business leaders and international experts on Adaptation, Market Mechanisms, Technology Transfer, and Energy Efficiency. 

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What is GLOBE?

GLOBE (Global Legislators Organization for a Balanced Environment – www.globeinternational.org)  is a non-partisan global network of legislators which is run by legislators with a mission to facilitate high-level international Dialogues aimed at pushing the boundaries of what is politically possible. 

What is COM+?

The COM+ Alliance (www.complusalliance.org) is a partnership of international organizations and communications professionals from diverse sectors committed to using communications to advance a vision of sustainable development that integrates its three pillars: economic, social, and environmental.   By offering a platform to share expertise, develop best practice, and create synergies, COM+ hopes to actively support creative and inspiring communications across the world to bring sustainable development closer to the public. COM+ members include The World Conservation Union, UNEP, WB, CGIAR, GEF, Inter Press Service, BBC World Service Trust, Reuters Foundation, DEV TV, IFEJ, WBCSD, TVE, Southern Caucus of NGOs, Green Facts, Thomson Foundation, TVEAP, among others.