John Holdren, Woods Hole Research Center (WHRC) and Harvard University, outlined a WHRC study, whose objective was to promote existing and prospective “win-win”approaches for reducing “climate-altering”emissions while advancing other climate goals in Brazil, China and India.

Daniel Nepstad, WHRC, noted that the Brazilian sub-component of the study focused on developing approaches to the reducing large-scale emissions in the Brazilian Amazon and highlighted the efforts of the federal government to protect it.

Paulo Mountinho, Amazon Institute for Environmental Research and WHRC, said that civil society in Brazil is prepared to discuss proposals for tropical deforestation mitigation in international negotiations, highlighting President Lula’s recent announcement reflecting positively on the “compensated reduction proposal.”

Ji Zou, Renmin University of China, explained that the China sub-component focused on reducing energy intensity in the Chinese automotive and other vehicle sectors. He noted that the study will also assess some economic and environmental options for deployment of advanced coal technologies.

Ambuj Sagar, Harvard University, noted that the Indian sub-component was based on already-existing mitigation studies and focused on various aspects of biomass and coal resource use.

Participants discussed, inter alia: why funding is needed for protecting forests in the Amazon; the high amount of deaths resulting from indoor air pollution; the need for promoting environmental education; the need for small-scale research on adaptation; improvement in rural energy services; and the need for making technology solutions work at the grassroots level.