Today, we look at the financial consequences of Brazil’s nonchalant approach to deforestation. The reduction in the emergency salary for vulnerable populations. And the Bolsonaros’ continuing legal problems.
Pressure mounts as Brazil’s environmental tragedy continues
The Amsterdam Declaration Partnership, a group of eight European nations currently led by Germany, has urged Brazil to take “real action” against deforestation in the Amazon. “While European efforts are aiming at achieving deforestation-free supply chains, the current trend of rising deforestation in Brazil is making it increasingly difficult for businesses and investors to meet their environmental, social, and governance criteria,” the group said in a two-page letter to Vice President Hamilton Mourão.
Why it matters. The signatory countries of the Amsterdam Declaration Partnership accounted for 10 percent of Brazilian agricultural exports in 2020.
- Meanwhile, a group of 30 NGOs, including Greenpeace France, demanded that French President Emmanuel Macron “bury once and for all” the EU-Mercosur free-trade deal, citing its possibly “disastrous” impacts on forests, the climate, and human rights.
Reaction. VP Mourão said he plans on taking foreign ambassadors to visit the Amazon region. And President Jair Bolsonaro called international outcry a “disproportionate” reaction.
Strange bedfellows. The government’s nonchalance has sparked a curious alliance...