{"id":628680,"date":"2023-04-11T09:54:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-11T14:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.sellorbuyhomefast.com\/index.php\/2023\/04\/11\/report-sums-up-bolsonaros-destruction-legacy-and-amazons-next-critical-steps\/"},"modified":"2023-04-11T09:54:00","modified_gmt":"2023-04-11T14:54:00","slug":"report-sums-up-bolsonaros-destruction-legacy-and-amazons-next-critical-steps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2023\/04\/11\/report-sums-up-bolsonaros-destruction-legacy-and-amazons-next-critical-steps\/","title":{"rendered":"Report sums up Bolsonaro\u2019s destruction legacy and Amazon\u2019s next critical steps"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"main\" xmlns:xlink=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\">\n<article id=\"post-267377\">\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li><em>A damning report confirms what many environmentalists already knew: that the destruction of nature in Brazil from 2019 to 2022 was a deliberate campaign of sabotage led by the government of the time.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>The report compiled four years of data to describe record levels of land invasions, illegal mining and Amazon deforestation under the administration of Jair Bolsonaro.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Against this challenging scenario, experts have mostly praised President Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva\u2019s initial actions in his first 100 days, especially his efforts to address the health crisis in the Yanomami Indigenous Territory.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>However, key actions remain pending, they say, including the quashing of anti-environmental bills and an end to the plan to pave a controversial highway through the Amazon Rainforest.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>After four years of environmental destruction, Brazil has reached a crossroads that will determine the fate of its biomes and its role in the global climate crisis. In its first 100 days in office, the new government has taken decisive action to undo the damage inflicted by former president Jair Bolsonaro, experts say. However, they also warn there are three crucial measures pending that need to be pushed forward this year, and that failing to do so could undermine the campaign promises of President Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva.<\/p>\n<p>A damning <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oc.eco.br\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/AF_reduzido_20220323_individuais_nunca-mais-outra-vez-1.pdf\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener\">new report<\/a> from the Climate Observatory, a network of civil society organizations, compiled four years\u2019 worth of measures by the Bolsonaro administration, in office from 2019 to 2022, ranging from the dismantling of environmental protection agencies to record high levels of deforestation. The report makes a clear conclusion: the former president deliberately tried to sabotage environmental conservation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was a calculated plan to destroy the environment,\u201d Marcio Astrini, executive secretary of the Climate Observatory, told Mongabay by phone. \u201cWe know that everything that happened was not by chance. It was a plan of destruction.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Final numbers of the damage the Bolsonaro administration inflicted on Brazil\u2019s environment, according to the report, include: zero Indigenous territories demarcated; a 60% increase in deforestation from the previous four-year period, the largest increase ever recorded in a presidential term; a 12.2% increase in greenhouse gas emissions from 2020 to 2021, the highest in 19 years; and a 38% decrease in the number of fines for environmental crimes compared to the period between 2015 and 2018.<\/p>\n<p>The latter is widely seen as part of a wider culture of impunity espoused by the Bolsonaro government that experts blame for a 212% increase in invasions of Indigenous lands and protected areas, and a 125% increase in illegal mining. The consequences of these actions came to light in January this year, with the revelation of the <a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/2023\/01\/yanomami-health-disaster-prompts-outrage-as-lula-vows-to-tackle-crisis\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">health crisis<\/a> among Yanomami Indigenous communities, linked to illegal mining inside their territory.<\/p>\n<p>The report calls on President Lula, in office since the start of 2023, to execute three measures by the end of this year to further demonstrate his commitment to a green agenda: reduce carbon emissions in line with a realistic commitment to the Paris Agreement; ban the \u201cdestruction package,\u201d a slate of bills deemed environmentally damaging that\u2019s being considered in Congress; and annul the license awarded for the paving of the BR-319 highway, which experts say would lead to <a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/2020\/11\/br-319-the-beginning-of-the-end-for-brazils-amazon-forest-commentary\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">mass deforestation<\/a> if completed.<\/p>\n<p>Fulfilling these steps will \u201cshow that his speech in Egypt [at the COP27 climate summit] was real,\u201d the report says. During that event last November, which Bolsonaro refused to attend despite still being Brazil\u2019s president at the time, <a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/2022\/11\/cop27-brazil-is-back-to-fight-deforestation-lula-says-but-hurdles-await\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">Lula vowed<\/a> to restore environmental protections and drive deforestation levels to zero. Although \u201csome positive action has already been undertaken by the government,\u201d said Astrini, others such as the quashing of the \u201cdestruction package\u201d and the BR-319 highway conflict with Lula\u2019s campaign pledges.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/04\/11142744\/2023_19_Brazil_Legacy.png\" alt width=\"1600\" height=\"1277\"  ><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Action required<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Several of the bills in the destruction package have already been approved by the lower house of Congress, the Chamber of Deputies, and are awaiting passage in the upper house, the Senate. Among the bills is one known as the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.congressonacional.leg.br\/materias\/materias-bicamerais\/-\/ver\/pls-526-1999\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener\">Poison Bill<\/a>,\u201d which proposes looser regulations for the use of agrochemicals; the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.congressonacional.leg.br\/materias\/materias-bicamerais\/-\/ver\/pl-2633-2020?_gl=1*1me7n4x*_ga*MzcxOTU0ODQ3LjE2NzgyMjI3NTU.*_ga_2TJV0B8LD3*MTY4MDU0NzcwMC4xLjAuMTY4MDU0NzcwMC4wLjAuMA..\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener\">Land Grab Bill<\/a>\u201d, which allows for the legalization of claims by squatters illegally occupying public lands; and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congressonacional.leg.br\/materias\/materias-bicamerais\/-\/ver\/pl-3729-2004\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener\">a bill to <\/a>reformulate environmental licensing and exempt <a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/2021\/12\/to-end-illegal-deforestation-brazil-may-legalize-it-entirely-experts-warn\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">14 types of businesses from licensing requirements<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>At the end of March, the Chamber of Deputies approved <a href=\"https:\/\/oeco.org.br\/noticias\/camara-aprova-norma-com-retrocessos-ao-codigo-florestal-e-a-lei-da-mata-atlantica\/\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener\">a bill that <\/a>weakens environmental regulations in the Atlantic Forest and could increase the risk of deforestation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll these four bills increase deforestation or create a backward environmental situation in Brazil,\u201d Astrini said. \u201cThe government will have to find a solution, either by renegotiating the content of the bills or vetoing them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The BR-319 highway remains on the Ministry of Transport\u2019s priority list, with <a href=\"https:\/\/oeco.org.br\/reportagens\/nao-existe-tema-proibido-diz-lula-ao-falar-sobre-br-319-no-amazonas\/\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener\">Lula saying in a radio interview<\/a> that it\u2019s \u201cfully possible\u201d to pave the road. The muddy highway cuts through the biggest block of untouched forest in the Amazon to connect Porto Velho, capital of Rond\u00f4nia state, to Manaus, capital of Amazonas state. Originally constructed by Brazil\u2019s military dictatorship in the 1970s, a 405-kilometer (250 miles) stretch of the route is <a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/2022\/10\/as-brazil-starts-repaving-an-amazon-highway-land-grabbers-get-to-work\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">impassable<\/a>, especially during the rainforest\u2019s six-month rainy season. The plan is to change that by repaving the road, which <a href=\"https:\/\/csr.ufmg.br\/csr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Nota_tecnica_112020-01_pavimentacao_BR_319.pdf\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener\">experts have said would quadruple deforestation<\/a> and open up the region to land grabbers.<\/p>\n<p>An initial license for paving work was approved last year, but is currently under analysis by IBAMA, Brazil\u2019s environmental protection agency, which requires the National Department of Transport Infrastructure (DNIT) to <a href=\"https:\/\/www1.folha.uol.com.br\/amp\/ambiente\/2023\/03\/licenca-para-br-319-depende-de-estudos-diz-novo-presidente-do-ibama.shtml\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener\">provide environmental studies<\/a> before deciding its viability. The DNIT told Mongabay in an email that it works with experts to \u201cguarantee the minimum possible impact to nature during the works\u201d and in a way that \u201censures environmental licenses are granted and strives to meet their conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>However, experts view the persistence of the BR-319 project as a contradiction of Lula\u2019s zero-deforestation pledge, no matter the measures taken to try to minimize deforestation around the highway. \u201cThe government needs to choose what it will actually do: whether it will fulfill its promise to end deforestation or whether it will build the highway,\u201d Astrini said. \u201cIt will not be able to do both things at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Yet experts also say the Lula administration is generally on the right track, despite the potential setbacks. The Climate Observatory report praises Lula\u2019s immediate efforts to get the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change back on its feet as well as the swift action to stop the Indigenous genocide, notably by evicting illegal miners from the Yanomami territory.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_267381\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/04\/11143027\/Illegal-Mining-in-Yanomami-scaled.jpg\" alt width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\"  ><figcaption>A garimpo, or illegal mine, in the Yanomami Indigenous Territory in 2021. This protected region was one of the worst affected by illegal mining, leading to a devastating health crisis among the Yanomami Indigenous people. Image \u00a9 Christian Braga\/Greenpeace.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Brazil can also play a key role in limiting global warming, as outlined by the Paris Agreement. \u201cThe country can adopt an 81% emission reduction target by 2030, reaching it through zero deforestation,\u201d according to the Climate Observatory report.<\/p>\n<p>Lula has already taken a step in this right direction by appointing <a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/2022\/11\/brazils-new-environmental-future-under-lula-qa-with-marina-silva\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">Marina Silva as the minister of the environment<\/a>, said Acioli Olivo, vice president of SindCT, the union for science and technology workers in the federal government.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s an incredible change because we removed those who were denialists and replaced them with those who have committed to preserving the environment,\u201d he told Mongabay by phone.<\/p>\n<p>Silva, who served as environment minister from 2003-2008, during Lula\u2019s previous stint in office, has set up a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.br\/pt-br\/noticias\/meio-ambiente-e-clima\/2023\/01\/marina-silva-anuncia-a-criacao-da-autoridade-nacional-de-seguranca-climatica\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener\">National Climate Security Authority<\/a> that aims to meet Brazil\u2019s commitments under the Paris Agreement. Congress still has to approve the new authority, but once this is done, it will play an influential role, Olivo said. \u201cIt will be as important as the Ministry of the Environment, because it will organize all climate change issues and will represent Brazil in the main [global] forums,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Experts say the government faces challenges ahead, especially the conflict between imposing an environmental agenda while juggling the demands of the powerful agribusiness lobby and the need for infrastructure development. But Astrini said he\u2019s hopeful the current government will stick to an environmental agenda.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFacing political contradictions is normal in a democratic government,\u201d he said. \u201cWe hope that the choices the government will have to make within these contradictions will never abandon the forest, nor the Indigenous peoples, nor the environmental agenda, as President Lula promised in his campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Banner image: IBAMA in Brazil is responsible for environmental protection and policing. The agency is currently reviewing the prior license authorizing the beginning of the BR-319 paving, with environmentalists calling for it to be annulled. Image \u00a9 Marizilda Cruppe\/Greenpeace.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>FEEDBACK:<\/strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/forms\/d\/e\/1FAIpQLScP6kOx20iZFILxoYS1UBbTpsd0OdoPOooYfJmxMScY75S5GQ\/viewform\" rel=\"noopener external\" target=\"_blank\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">Use this form<\/a>\u00a0to send a message to the author of this post. If you want to post a public comment, you can do that at the bottom of the page.<\/p>\n<blockquote data-secret=\"dLoEzdDatD\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/2023\/01\/from-deforestation-to-restoration-policy-plots-path-to-amazon-recovery\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">From deforestation to restoration: Policy plots path to Amazon recovery<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div id=\"single-article-footer\">\n<div id=\"single-article-tags\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/list\/amazon-destruction\/\" rel=\"tag\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">Amazon Destruction<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/list\/amazon-mining\/\" rel=\"tag\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">Amazon Mining<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/list\/amazon-people\/\" rel=\"tag\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">Amazon People<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/list\/climate-change\/\" rel=\"tag\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">Climate Change<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/list\/conflict\/\" rel=\"tag\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">Conflict<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/list\/deforestation\/\" rel=\"tag\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">Deforestation<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/list\/drivers-of-deforestation\/\" rel=\"tag\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">Drivers Of Deforestation<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/list\/environment\/\" rel=\"tag\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">Environment<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/list\/environmental-law\/\" rel=\"tag\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">Environmental Law<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/list\/gold-mining\/\" rel=\"tag\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">Gold Mining<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/list\/governance\/\" rel=\"tag\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">Governance<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/list\/illegal-mining\/\" rel=\"tag\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">Illegal Mining<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/list\/indigenous-communities\/\" rel=\"tag\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">Indigenous Communities<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/list\/indigenous-groups\/\" rel=\"tag\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">Indigenous Groups<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/list\/indigenous-peoples\/\" rel=\"tag\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">Indigenous Peoples<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/list\/indigenous-reserves\/\" rel=\"tag\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">Indigenous Reserves<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/list\/indigenous-rights\/\" rel=\"tag\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">Indigenous Rights<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/list\/land-conflict\/\" rel=\"tag\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">Land Conflict<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/list\/land-grabbing\/\" rel=\"tag\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">Land Grabbing<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/list\/land-rights\/\" rel=\"tag\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">Land Rights<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/list\/politics\/\" rel=\"tag\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">Politics<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/list\/rainforest-deforestation\/\" rel=\"tag\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">Rainforest Deforestation<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/list\/threats-to-rainforests\/\" rel=\"tag\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">Threats To Rainforests<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/list\/threats-to-the-amazon\/\" rel=\"tag\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">Threats To The Amazon<\/a> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/amp\/?print\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\"><svg style=\"width:45px;height:35px;\" fill=\"#669a00\"><use xlink:href=\"http:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/#print\" \/><\/svg>Print<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/2023\/04\/report-sums-up-bolsonaros-destruction-legacy-and-amazons-next-critical-steps\/\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a><br \/>\n Raleigh Grumbles<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A damning report confirms what many environmentalists already knew: that the destruction of nature in Brazil from 2019 to 2022 was a deliberate campaign of sabotage led by the government of the time. The report compiled four years of data to describe record levels of land invasions, illegal mining and Amazon deforestation under the administration [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":628681,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[121488,534,193],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-628680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bolsonaros","category-financial","category-report"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=628680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/628681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=628680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=628680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=628680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}