Climate Change Coping Strategy Expressed in the Federal Public Policies in Brazil

The objective of this paper is to analyze the climate change coping strategy in Brazil expressed in the federal government policy up to 2012, seeking to identify the implicit concept of development in light of the overall goal of sustainability. Besides the National Policy on Climate Change (NPCC), the development plans of the following sectors were also analyzed: combat to deforestation, energy, agriculture and transport. The methodology was based on content analysis of the official documents, which was supported by literature review and information obtained in interviews with qualified informants. The results showed that the NPCC favors mitigation actions over those directed to adaptation. The contradictions of this strategy become apparent in areas such as the sub-salt exploration, investment in large-scale farming, and no consideration of social inequality. The conclusion indicates that the consideration of climate change issues by the government is secondary, being the main objective to promote a development model anchored on economic growth.