From Rio de Janeiro
Arise new data on the effects of environmental policy carried out by the government of the far-right president Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil. Between August 2020 and last July, at least 745 million trees were cut down, which means an area of 13,235 kilometers that were cleared. It is an area equivalent to 65 times the city of Buenos Aires.
From the arrival of Bolsonaro to the presidential chair, the first day of 2019, until July 31 of this year, nineteen hundred million trees were cut down. Of that total, 30% was in the lands of the Nation. The data are from INPE, the National Institute for Space Research, which will be in existence for half a century in 2021.
Since his arrival to the presidency, Bolsonaro has harassed the institution without pause. Despite being known on October 27, four days before the opening of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change, held in Glasgow, the data was only released on Thursday, November 18, four days after the closing of the meeting. .
On your recent trip to some of the United Arab Emirates, Bolsonaro went so far as to assure that the Amazon forest is “intact” and is almost equal to what it was in 1,500, when the Portuguese came to from Brazil.
The insistence of the president in opposing the truth is in direct contrast to a picture that unequivocally shows that in reality the Amazon bleeds in front of the eyes of the world.
The indigenous communities see how their lands are invaded by illegal mining, which, in addition to knocking down trees in immense quantities, pollutes the waters of the largest hydrographic bay in the world with mercury.
Since the arrival of Michel Temer to the presidency, after the dismissal of Dilma Rousseff, in August 2016, the structure of control and preservation of the environment suffered cuts in budgets destined to the environmental defense and the demarcated areas occupied by native peoples.
With Bolsonaro, what was a slow clearing was replaced by a destructive avalanche.
The current government encourages actions of illegal devastation, with the president opening space to freeze the inspection while reducing the application of fines and, in different ways, contributing to cover up crimes committed in the environment, especially in the forests.
Bolsonaro continues to show signs of irritation with the effects of what his environmental agenda produces: the melting of Brazil’s image on the global stage. But there is no way to defend yourself.
One piece of data is of increasing concern not only to economic and political analysts, but to businessmen, especially from sectors of the so-called agribusiness: the European Union announces tough measures to limit and even prevent the entry of products whose origin is the forest. The proposal, already approved in the corresponding commission, will focus on the importation of raw materials from countries that contribute to deforestation and environmental degradation.
When it is approved in plenary session of the EU, it will impose restrictions on soybeans, meat, wood, coffee and cocoa, among other products.
The tough measures concern all nations, of course, and not just Brazil. It happens that the environmental devastation in the country occupies the center of tension and attention of the most important economies of the world, which obviously includes the European Union.
It is not known when the final document will be approved. But it is known that the measures will be imposed quickly, with very harsh effects for Brazil.
Bolsonaro has the backing of a large part of the agribusiness sector, which benefits from the dismantling of all structured policies over decades aimed at preserving the environment.
As there will be presidential elections in 2022, no change is in sight in the environmental policy of the current president, who is seeking re-election with the backing of the countryside. The price, in any case, will not only affect the agribusiness, but all Brazilians.
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