The Rise and Fall of Brazil’s Domestic and Foreign Climate Policy

Eduardo Viola
Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Advanced Studies, University of São Paulo
Professor, School of International Relations, Fundação Getúlio Vargas, São Paulo
Senior Professor, Post-Graduate Program in International Relations - IREL, University of Brasilia
Former Visiting Fellow, Kellogg Institute for International Studies 

Brazil is the sixth largest overall emitter of carbon dioxide in the world (behind China, USA, India, EU and Russia), and its per capita emissions are high. Yet its emissions profile differs greatly from both developed and emergent countries, with 45% arising from deforestation and 25% from agriculture.

Brazil's history of deforestation is mixed, marked by periods of  rampant growth and large declines. Equally erratic has been the country's foreign policy and public promises related to climate change. This talk will look in depth at the complex drivers at play in both Brazil's deforestation and its foreign policy with relation to climate change and carbon dioxide emissions, as well as the practical consequences they have had.