Ipea ? Institute for Applied Economic Research
DPCD/MMA ? Department for Policies Against Deforestation (Ministry of the Environment, Brazil)
Imazon ? Amazon Institute of People and the Environment
CIFOR ? Center for International Forestry Research
CPI ? Climate Policy Initiative
NAPC/PUC-Rio ? Núcleo de Avaliação de Políticas Climáticas/Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro

This side event aims at reviewing the recent economic and social drivers of the deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon region, as well as analyzing to which extent environmental policies have been effective in decreasing deforestation rates recently. New policy proposals that combine forest conservation and sustainable use with socioeconomic development and a greener economy in the Amazon will be discussed.

The event starts with an introduction to policies that are in place to combat illegal forest loss and follows with presentations of new research results based on quantitative analyses of deforestation dynamics and their empirical linkages with economic variables and environmental regulations.

Panelists will engage the audience in a debate focusing on potential ways to enhancing the effectiveness of forest conservation policies against the backdrop of social and economic development of the region as well as Brazil?s pledge to achieve the ambitious conservation targets proposed in Copenhagen.

This side event aims at discussing the recent economic and social drivers of the deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon, as well as analyzing to which extent public policies were effective in decreasing deforestation rates in the last years. It also aims at presenting ideas of policies that could combine forest conservation and sustainable use with economic and social development and a greener economy for the region.
The event will start with a brief introduction to policies that are in place to combat deforestation and will follow with presentations of new research results on the interactions among the economic system, public policies and deforestation. Specifically, presentations will focus on models that describe the drivers of deforestation ups and downs and impact evaluations of the effectiveness of some specific policies in place aimed at controlling deforestation.
At the end, speakers will present their view and debate with the public about which policies should be created or strengthened, so that Brazil can further decrease illegal deforestation and reach its pledges presented at COP 15, while combining forest conservation and sustainable use with economic and social development and a greener economy for the region.

Specific themes that will be discussed:
- Economic causes of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon in the 21st century
- The contribution of agricultural prices and conservation policies to the recent deforestation slowdown in the Brazilian Amazon
- Evaluation of the Brazilian strategy to prevent and control deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon
- Measuring the effectiveness of field-based regulatory enforcement operations in reducing deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon
- Evaluation of the results of the new regulations concerning rural credit granting in decreasing deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon
- Future public policy challenges to keep illegal deforestation under control and achieve sustainable development and a greener economy in the Brazilian Amazon

Speakers:
Francisco Jose Barbosa De Oliveira Filho, DPCD/MMA ? Department for Policies Against Deforestation (Ministry of the Environment, Brazil)
Jorge Hargrave, Ipea ? Institute for Applied Economic Research
Paulo Barreto / Brenda Brito, Imazon ? Amazon Institute of People and the Environment
Jan Börner, CIFOR ? Center for International Forestry Research
Clarissa Costalonga e Gandour, CPI ? Climate Policy Initiative, NAPC/PUC-Rio ? Núcleo de Avaliação de Políticas Climáticas (Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro)

Potential contribution to the outcome of UNCSD/Rio+20:
The event will contribute to the goals of Rio + 20 in three different ways:
First, Rio + 20 outcomes will have to include concrete proposals on how to combine tropical forest conservation and sustainable use with economic prosperity and social welfare. This side event will shed light on the interactions among economic, social and policy spheres and their impact on deforestation dynamics in the largest tropical forest of the world. Thus, it will help policy makers and stakeholders in general to better understand how these links work in a tropical forest context.
Second, in a world with limited resources, quantitative evaluations are key to ensure cost-effectiveness and good practices in policy design. Our event will disseminate innovative research in this still young area of tropical forest research.
Third, it will contribute to internationally disseminating lessons learned from Brazil as one of the countries with the most advanced tropical forest legislations in the world.