International Journal of Government Auditing – January 2010
Brazil
SAI hosts Seminar on Public Policy and Climate Change
On November 11–12, 2009—1 month before the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen—the Brazilian Court of Audit (TCU) hosted a seminar on public policy and climate change in Brasília. The seminar gathered government authorities and specialists, congressmen, scholars, and representatives from nongovernmental organizations and private enterprises with expertise in these issues. It also gave participants an opportunity to share their expectations about the Climate Change Conference, particularly in regard to the role of Brazil.
In his presentation, Carlos Minc, the Minister of Environment, discussed the goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that Brazil was to present at the Climate Change Conference. According to Minister Minc, the government will attempt to meet this critical goal through its fight against deforestation of the Amazon and other environmental public policies. He highlighted the Brazilian government’s National Plan on Climate Change, approved in 2008, which identifies actions to combat environmental degradation and establishes goals to reach the intended results. Sergio Machado Rezende, the Minister of Science and Technology, delivered a speech about the Brazilian satellite currently in orbit that observes and photographically records several regions, thus contributing to the monitoring of deforestation. He also stated that 700 experts from 150 institutions are preparing an environmental inventory that will report preliminary results on the condition of the environment. The inventory will be available for public consultation from January to July 2010 and will be ready for international presentation starting in August 2010.
Senator Marina Silva, who preceded Minister Carlos Minc as head of the Ministry of Environment, called for greater integration among government bodies to end the false antagonism between development and environment. She stressed the need to consider environmental issues in all governmental actions and emphasized four challenges in confronting climate change: convincing political and business leaders about the importance of environment issues, overcoming 20th century views of development, establishing adequate political management projects, and creating institutional structures to deal with environmental issues.
Participants in the Brazilian Court of Audit’s (TCU)
Seminar on Public Policy and Climate Change: (left to right) Aroldo Cedraz,
TCU Minister and coordinator of the seminar; Carlos Minc, Minister of Environment;
Minister Ubiratan Aguiar, TCU President; and Sergio Rezende, Minister of Science
and Technology.
After the seminar was adjourned, Minister Aroldo Cedraz, a member of the Brazilian Court of Audit and coordinator of the seminar, affirmed that the event marked a milestone in the way the Court carries out its assignments. He expressed his conviction about the results of the seminar as follows: “I believe in our potential, in our natural resources, but what I really believe in is the seriousness of those who brought their knowledge to this meeting, who honored us with their presence. I am sure that, together, we will contribute to Brazil adopting a better position on environment in the international scenario.”
For additional information, contact the Court of Audit:
E-mail: arint@tcu.gov.br, omirpl@tcu.gov.br
Web site: www.tcu.gov.br