Government Doesn't Want to Include Forests in MDL's
Gazeta Mercantil Pará
October 24, 2000
The Brazilian government will have to face a pressing dilemma in just over 15 days, when the COP-6 conference will be held in The Hague, Holland - whether or not to include its native forests in the Clean Development Mechanisms (MDL). Currently, the Ministry of Science and Technology is opposed to the idea, favouring only the inclusion of changes in energy utilisation and reforestation activities. The reason is that the Ministry feels it would stifle development, as well as interfering with national sovereignty over its own lands. The issue was debated intensely yesterday in Belém, at the seminar "Criteria for the Inclusion of Forests in the MDL," promoted by the Institute for Environmental Research of the Amazon (IPAM). If implemented, the MDL's would allow industrialised nations to fund reforestation programs in developing nations, in order to offset their pollution reduction requirements.