Megacities & Climate Change

The UK-Brazil Sustainable Development Dialogue was formalised during the Brazilian State visit by the signing of a joint statement on 7 March 2006. The Dialogue is designed to strengthen ties in a broad range of policy areas and provide leadership on sustainable development.

Download the Brazil-UK signed joint statement

UK - Brazil Sustainable Development Projects funded under the High Level Dialogue on SD:

The main areas are:

1.    Forestry
2.    Biofuels
3.    Resource efficiency
4.    Climate change (via the WGCC) includes:

o    Scientific collaboration
o    Low carbon technology transfer
o    Domestic Action
o    Development and adaptation
o    International co-operation on elements of global deal
o    Emissions from deforestation

The themes of Poverty and Inequality, and Science for Sustainability are cross-cutting by nature, and covered by the 4 themes above.

Projects funded under Defra’s International Sustainable Development Fund (ISDF):

The projects funded are not directly linked to the High Level Dialogue on SD which is a bilateral Government to Government agreement.

Fostering Sustainable Public Procurement in Brazil

The project aims to build capacity and foster implementation of sustainable public procurement, initially in three pilot governments in Brazil: the state and the city of São Paulo (38 million people), as well as the State of Minas Gerais (17 million people) with the further aim of influencing other Brazilian states and the FederalGovernment to promote these practices throughout Brazil.

The project has been going since 2007 and has succeeded in strengthening the engagement of 3 participant governments in SPP practices.   For example the State of Sao Paulo Government included sustainable alternatives into its procurement system and approved state-level legislation on SPP as a result of this project. Minas Gerais State Government has already incorporated criteria into account for purchases of food and computers.   The Federal Government has shown interest in the SPP practices generated by project.

The project is being implemented by ICLEI-Brasil on behalf of ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability Latin America and the Caribbean Secretariat, LACS (leader)

Analysis of environmental and social impacts of biodiesel and bioethanol production in Brazil

The projects aim to map the current and assess future situation of sustainability (environmental and social impacts – both direct and indirect) of biodiesel and bioethanol production in Brazil.

The studies will be ready in November and we expect the results to feed into a SPF-CCE project that aims to support the engagement of Brazilian civil society in the development of environmental and social criteria for biofuel production   A dissemination strategy will also follow project completion ahead of the International Biofuels Conference in Sao Paulo, Brasil, 17-21 November 2008.

The biodiesel and bioethanol project are being implemented by the Brazilian Centre for Biofuels – ESALQ/USP (State University of Sao Paulo) and UNICAMP (State University of Campinas) respectively.

Adoption of an Independent Agricultural Certification Scheme in Brazil (just approved)

This project aims to develop and launch a national independent unified agricultural certification scheme as a result of a transparent and legitimate multi-stakeholder engagement

As the only advanced certification initiative underway in Brazil, this process is envisaged to have considerable impact on the negotiation of specific industry best practice criteria in the agricultural and livestock sectors, leading to changes in land use patterns and labour relations in the industry, and ultimately reduction in deforestation, biodiversity loss, use of excessive agrichemicals and consequent water and soil impacts, as well as reductions in labour abuses such as child labour and semi-slavery conditions.

The project is being implemented by Friends of the Earth (Brazil).

Reducing illegal logging and deforestation in protected areas of the Brazilian Amazon by strengthening environmental law enforcement

The project aims to increase the efficiency of the enforcement of environmental law against illegal logging and deforestation in protected areas of the Brazilian Amazon.   The project will review law enforcement in 80-100 major cases of environmental violations (related to deforestation and/or illegal logging) including (i) what actions were taken, (ii) how effective enforcement was in each case (including whether the fines imposed were actually collected), (iii) what the (likely) impact will be in reducing illegal activities in the short, medium and long-term, and (iv) what the lessons can be learned from these cases.  It will also monitor the progress of law enforcement in 80-100 major cases of environmental violations (related to deforestation and/or logging), including whether or not there was any effective punishment on crimes.

The analysis will be presented to and discussed with civil society, the private sector and public officials such as environmental agencies, Prosecution Service, auditing officers and the judiciary) in small workshops and in public seminars.  The project will produce reports and policy briefs suggesting practical improvements in the detection and notification of environmental violations.

The project is being implemented by Imazon.  There is co-funding from The Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation.

Resource Efficiency: Brazilian Industrial Symbiosis Programme

This project is taking the experience of the UK’s National Industrial Symbiosis Programme to Brazil.   Industrial symbiosis brings together companies from all business sectors with the aim of improving cross industry resource efficiency through the commercial trading of materials, energy and water and sharing assets, logistics and expertise. It engages traditionally separate industries and other organizations in a collective approach to competitive advantage involving physical exchange of materials, energy, water and/or by-products together with the shared use of assets, logistics and expertise.

The aim of the project is to effect long-term culture change within industry and generate opportunities for business through industrial symbiosis aligned to Brazil’s emerging SCP polices and strategies.  The impact of industrial symbiosis will be to promote economic growth and reduce consumption of virgin materials whilst improving industry’s environmental performance.

The project was approved for funding in September 2008.   It is co-funded by FIEMG – Minas Gerais State Industry Federation and Government of Minas Gerais State.

Climate change collaboration

The FCO funds projects under its Strategic Programme Fund (SPF) (previously known as the Global Opportunities Fund (GOF)).  These fall under several broad areas:

1: Policy or institutional frameworks developed and/or implemented that enable public and/or private sector investments in low carbon
2: Key constituencies recognise a stable climate as a prosperity and security imperative, and mobilise political support for strong measures
3: Governments develop or adopt policy, legislative or regulatory mechanisms designed to support existing Kyoto mechanisms and/or the post-2012 framework
4: Policy developed and/or implemented which will enable better functioning global market
5: Development of sound scientific and economic evidence which demonstrates to key constituencies the benefit of developing or implementing policies to take strong, early action on climate change

For more information on SDDs in Brazil, visit Defra’s Sustainable Development Unit’s web site.