This week began with Thousands of Bolsonaro supporters travelling to BrasÃlia to attack and ransack the Brazilian Congress, Supreme Court and the office of the President.
Supporting the stance of former president Bolsonaro of refusing to acknowledge the outcome of the election. This attack on the central institutions of Brazilian democracy was shocking.
Were not surprising. The lack of preparedness- of the police and security forces in the insurrection was very shocking.
Newly elected president Lula was swift in connecting the attacks on democracy to individuals profiting from illegal mining, land grabbing, attacks on indigenous peoples and other illegal activities that are closely connected.
Deforestation and fires in the Amazon have hit record levels despite agreements to end deforestation signed at COP26 in Glasgow. The destruction is fuelled by the policies of the extreme right-wing former government of Jair Bolsonaro which has dismantled protections for the forest and Indigenous Peoples.
The continued pace of deforestation in Brazil under the former government’s environmental policies may lead Brazil to exceed by 2030 up to 137% the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions target assumed by the country in the Paris Agreement and the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC).
This is the conclusion of the Continuity Scenario study, developed by researchers from the Centre for Integrated Studies on Environment and Climate Change (Centro Clima) of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), as part of the Climate & Development initiative.
International trade is today highly contaminated by the degradation of the Amazon. Brazil’s role as a strategic supplier of commodities such as grains and protein makes boycott actions very difficult in a world of alternating systemic crises. Well-designed due diligence laws are indispensable, and agreements with Brazil should contain strong environmental safeguards;
More extreme right-wing = less Amazon Rainforest:
Reinforce that the re-election of the extreme right-wing Bolsonaro in Brazil means that the decline of this great forest is more likely than its preservation for the future.
Dr Seema Javed
