Bolsonaro feigns a return of the Amazon Fund

Brazil’s Environment Ministry created a working group on Monday with the alleged objective of “reactivating” the Amazon Fund, which has been suspended for approximately three years. However, experts consulted by The Brazilian Report say the maneuver is little more than an electoral stunt.

An ordinance published on Brazil’s Federal Register says the group will comprise just four members — all of them ministry employees — with the task of “analyzing and proposing governance structures of the Amazon Fund and its objectives as a financing instrument for national public policies.”

The group is to start working on August 2 and will have 60 days to provide a final report — just in time for the presidential election on October 2.

According to its official website, the Amazon Fund was set up in 2008 “to raise donations for non-reimbursable investments in efforts to prevent, monitor, and combat deforestation, as well as to promote the preservation and sustainable use of the Brazilian Amazon.”

The fund is mainly sponsored by Norway and Germany and managed by Brazil’s National Development Bank (BNDES), responsible for raising and investing funds, monitoring the sponsored projects, and providing accountability.

According to a BNDES report, the Amazon Fund has raised a total of BRL 3.4 billion (USD 630 million) since its...