Brazil is responsible for three percent of global emissions of greenhouse gases, and tropical deforestation is to blame for three-fourths of the country's emissions.

That is the conclusion reached by Brazil's greenhouse gas emission inventory, released to the public this week by the Brazilian government ahead of its presentation Friday at the United Nations climate change conference (COP-10) running Dec. 6-17 in Buenos Aires.

Emissions of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, grew five percent -- from 979 million to 1.03 billion tons -- between 1990 and 1994.

In Brazil, the combustion of fossil fuels is the second-biggest source of greenhouse gases, which cause global warming.by trapping heat in the earth's atmosphere.

But it accounts for just 23 percent of the total in this country, a much lower proportion than in other countries, especially the industrialised nations.

Brazil has the advantage that the sources of much of its energy are renewable and clean, like hydropower and biomass, said Minister of Energy and Mines Dilma Rousseff, at the release of the inventory report.Deforestation in the Amazon jungle region, which has accelerated since the 1980s, is thus Brazil's Achilles' heel.

The clearing and burning of rainforests releases enormous amounts of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, methane, ozone, and nitrous oxide into the atmosphere. Other countries that emit large amounts of carbon from tropical deforestation are Indonesia, Burma (Myanmar), Mexico and Thailand.

Tropical deforestation also contributes to global warming by destroying one of the only ways the earth is able to absorb excess carbon and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which forests do through photosynthesis. For that reason, tropical rainforests are known as "carbon sinks".

Curbing deforestation is one of the commitments of the government of leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, which has implemented plans to combat illegal logging and develop the Amazon jungle region in a sustainable manner, said Environment Minister Marina Silva, a prominent environmental and social activist from Acre, an Amazon jungle state.

According to Silva, the preliminary data indicates that the destruction of Amazon forests will level off this year, after increasing two percent in 2003 and 28 percent in 2002. Last year, 23,750 square kilometres of forests were cut down.

Environmental organisations, however, question that assessment, and say there has actually been a sharp rise in deforestation, with 30,000 square kilometres (an area the size of Belgium) of forests destroyed this year.

(From Brazzilmag, Dezembro 10, 2004)

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