This paper examines the main approaches to developing an equitable international climate change regime. The first section introduces the main Brazilian stakeholders and the activities related to the Climate Convention, and reviews the national debate on climate change, environment and development. Section II discusses the connections between Brazil's climate change mitigation and sustainable development strategies, illustrating some programmes leading to greenhouse gas emissions mitigation. Section III identifies important barriers to integrating climate change into national sustainable development strategies. The core part considers approaches to harnessing synergies between climate change and sustainable development policies, and illustrates the key issues in building an equitable burden-sharing climate regime. As part of this, it considers the Brazilian Proposal made at COP-3.

The paper's key conclusions include that Brazil's main source of emissions is deforestation to create more farmland, that renewable energy production and improved energy efficiency have significantly contributed to avoiding emissions, and that the Brazilian Proposal may be a useful starting point for developing international mitigation policy.

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