This paper has five sections. In Section 1, it explores the links between the economic crisis and the

climate crisis, and the recent dynamics - in terms of negotiating position and climate policies - of

the three great climate powers - USA, China and European Union - and the ten middle climate

powers - India, Russia, Brazil, Japan, Indonesia, Mexico, South Korea, Canada, South Africa and

Saudi Arabia. Section 2 provides an overview of the evolution of climate policy in Brazil in the

2005-2008 period. Section 3 analyses how major changes in the positions of the governments of

the Amazonian states, of a significant group of large Brazilian companies, and of governmental

and civil society players, produced a major shift in climate foreign policy in the second half of 2009.

Section 4 evaluates the outcome of COP 15 and its aftermath in the first half of 2010, when all

major countries pledged to achieve the targets of the Copenhagen Agreement. Finally, Section 5

summarizes the deep changes that took place at the national and international level in 2009 and

2010 and speculates briefly about the coming year