News stories by Diana Cariboni* - Tierramérica

'We are the coldest country in the world... so global warming is good for us. The warmer it is, the bigger the harvests... They talk about stopping deforestation of the tropical jungles to fight climate change, but we don't have tropical jungles.'

The world's multilateral credit institutions have often faced the criticism that they cause more problems than they prevent. As the challenges increase, such as those posed by climate change, the debate is shifting to environmental financing.

'To use a soccer metaphor, which Brazilian politicians like so much, the Kyoto Protocol was the 10-minute warm-up before the real game begins,' said scientist Carlos Nobre in reference to global climate change treaties.