After a year of gestation involving thirteen federal ministries and consultations with a wide range of businesses, public agencies and civil society, the Brazilian government on Dec. 1 finally published its long-awaited National Climate Change Plan. For a country in which 75% of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are estimated to arise from deforestation—mainly in the Amazon—it is no surprise that reaction to the 120-page document has focused on the plan’s unprecedented targets for reducing the rate at which the world’s largest tropical forest is being flattened, principally to make way for cattle pasture and cropland. That reaction has been strikingly mixed. There is delight in some quarters that after years of resisting them, the Brazilian government has committed itself to quantified... [Log in to read more]