Brazil’s GHG emissions up 8% last year, coalition claims
by The Associated Press
Emissions almost eight per cent higher in 2013 than one year earlier, network of more than 30 environmental groups claims
SAO PAULO, Brazil—Emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in Brazil, Latin America’s biggest country, were almost eight per cent higher in 2013 than one year earlier, a network of more than 30 environmental groups claims.
The Observatorio do Clima, or Climate Observatory, said in a report that GHG emissions amounted to 1.57 billion metric tons in 2013 compared to 1.45 billion metric tons in 2012.
The increase was a reversal in a trend of declining levels that started in 2005 as emissions of GHGs dropped year by year as deforestation fell, the report said.
The report said soil-use changes in 2013 accounted for 16.5 per cent of emissions due to increased deforestation in the Amazon region and in the savanna-like ecosystem known as the Cerrado in central Brazil.
The energy sector accounted for 7.8 per cent of the emissions because of the increased use of thermoelectric plants and greater consumption of gasoline and diesel for transportation purposes, the report said.
Climate Observatory’s secretary general, Carlos Rittl, said in a statement that Brazil is not investing enough on alternative sources of energy.
He said that while Brazil focuses most of its attention on developing its offshore oil reserves, countries like the United States, China and Germany are investing in renewable energy sources.
They are “becoming more economically competitive and moving forward while we are being left behind,” he said.
