This study focuses on some of the programs and measures Brazil has undertaken over the past two or three decades in order to mitigate economic or environmental problems, which have also had positive effects on the reduction of the country's carbon dioxide emissions. Results show that, in the year 2000 alone, some 11% in CO2 emissions from energy use in Brazil have been reduced compared to what would have been emitted that year had the actions reviewed here not been implemented in good time. As these actions have not been motivated as a strategy to curb global climate change, if their benefits related to avoided carbon emissions are not fully appraised in the near future, chances are that these policies may be discontinued. For instance, in the case of the business-as-usual scenario drawn up by the Ministry of Mines and Energy in 2001, the discontinuity of the policies analyzed here would result in CO2 emissions 20% higher by 2020, compared to what would happen were these policies kept over the long term. Therefore, the perspective presented here spotlights some of the hidden benefits of the programs and measures underway in the country, justifying their continuation or even intensification. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.