The human induced intensification of the greenhouse effect has been threatening the planet’s ecologic balance. Concerned with the problem, more than 160 countries have become Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), first signed in 1992 during the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro (Rio – 92). The Convention came into force in 1994, after the signatory countries ratified it.

In 1997, during the Third Session of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention held in Kyoto,Japan, it was signed a protocol, the Kyoto Protocol, that determines the reduction of greenhouse gases (GHG) for the industrialized countries for the 2008-2012 period. This may be partly achieved by investing in projects to reduce GHG emissions in developing countries, through the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The Kyoto decisions entered into force after the ratification of the Protocol, on February, 2005. Brazil has had excellent conditions to mitigate the growth of its carbon dioxide and methane emissions, contributing to the global protection of the environment. At the same time, it can take the opportunity to raise financial support from international sources for projects in the areas of energy efficiency and clean/renewable energy use, contributing to the sustainable development of the country.

Since 1990, COPPE/UFRJ has been working on a series of studies and projects on the issue. At the international level, it participates in the preparation of part of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) reports and in studies for the UNFCCC Secretariat. In Brazil, it has been providing support to the Climate Change Unit of the Ministry of Science and Technology (MCT), preparing the national inventory of GHG emissions for the energy sector and also, giving technical support for government decision-making.

At the end of December 2000, the Ministry of Environment, by means of an agreement with COPPE/UFRJ, created the Centre for Integrated Studies on Climate Change and the Environment (Centro Clima). The Ministry of Environment’s actions in the field of climate Change are focused on Centro Clima and on MMA´s Workgroup on Climate Changes. The Presidency of the Brazilian Republic, in preparatory meetings for the Brazilian Forum on Climate Change, has demanded the Ministry of Environment to constitute a set of pilot-projects in the reduction of gases that cause Greenhouse effect. In addition, COPPE/UFRJ, through Centro Clima, provides technical support to the Ministry of Environment (MMA), (who is also the Vice-Chair of the Interministerial Commission for Global Climate Change, the Designated National Authority (DNA) for CDM) and promotes capacity building in public and non-governmental sectors at local, state and federal levels.

Centro Clima has also developed the document “Eligibility Criteria and Indicators of Sustainability for the CDM Projects Appraisal”, important document which was adopted by the Brazilian DNA for the elaboration of the five contributing aspects for the national sustainable development, which are in the third amendment to the First Resolution of September, 2003. More recently, Centro Clima has provided technical consultancy for supporting the technical and scientific coordination of the prospective exercise for the opportunities that could come, as results of climate change issues in strategic sectors for the economical and social development of the country, in the Climate Change Series (Volumes I and II) of Cadernos NAE, NAE Books, of Núcleo de Assuntos Estratégicos (Unit of Strategic Issues of the Sub-Secretariat of the Institutional Communication Sub-Secretariat of the Brazilian Federal Presidency.