Oil tax funds climate projects in Brazil

Deutsche Welle, Germany 23 February 2012, Brazil's government is fighting climate change with a special fund flush with cash from a tax on the country's oil industry. The money is to be distributed as loans to climate-friendly initiatives. Brazilhas a new weapon in its battle with climate change. Last week the government launched a climate fund worth 80 million euros ($106 million) that will target projects that reduce greenhouse gases, fight climate change, and implement adaptation strategies for climate change. "The government has fulfilled its role of making the money available. There's a willingness from industry and from private initiatives to participate and to invest in the appropriate technologies," Karen Suassuna, the director of climate change issues at Brazil's Environment Ministry, told DW.