Brazil wants to build proposal on climate with other countries

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Monday that his country is ready to build a proposal along with other countries to reduce gas emissions that cause the greenhouse effect.

In his weekly radio program "Breakfast with the President," Da Silva said that the presence of world leaders will be very important to reach an agreement at the 15th UN Climate Change Conference (COP 15) to be held in Copenhagen, Denmark in December.

"We have sent proposals to the UK, France, Germany, and the United States, so we can work to build a proposal that is accredited by the Brazilian people. I have a commitment to call the president (of the United States, Barack) Obama, call the president (of China,) Hu Jintao to see if we can build a proposal," he said.

Da Silva also said the responsibility of each country should be proportional to the environment damage done historically.

"The problem is that rich countries, particularly the most industrialized, emitted much more gas of greenhouse effect than countries which are developing in the 20th century, in the 21st century. It is important that everyone commits, but that commitments are defined according to the responsibility of each country," he stressed.

The Brazilian leader said the issue was one of the topics he brought up during his recent visit to Britain with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and Queen Elizabeth II.

"I have shown what we are doing in Brazil, our commitments to reduce emissions of CO2, the commitment we made in September, at the United Nations, to reduce deforestation (in the Amazon) by 80 percent up to 2020," he said.

During the program, Da Silva confirmed that a meeting proposed by his government will be held later this month to gather the Amazon countries' presidents and define a joint proposal to be taken to Copenhagen.


Source: Xinhua