Brazil will strive to "slow down the rate of deforestation" in the second half of the year, Environment Minister Ricardo Salles said in an interview with AFP. “The first step, starting this year, is to put an end to the increase in deforestation in the second half of the year. And from next year, reduce deforestation, lower the figures, ”he said during this interview in his office at the ministry in Brasilia. “Brazil's commitment [during the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015] is to reduce illegal deforestation to zero by 0 2030. This goal is not achieved overnight, we need a substantial project, ”he added.
Satellite data from the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) shows record deforestation in the Amazon in the first half of the year, 25% higher than in the first six months of 2019. Direct consequence of deforestation, with farmers burning deforested land for To graze herds there, fires in the Amazon rainforest rose 28% in July compared to the same time last year. Further south, in the Pantanal, the planet's largest wetland and biodiversity sanctuary, the situation is even more critical, with fires more than tripling in July.
Pressure from investment funds
In 2019, the government of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro had already been widely criticized by the international community because of the resurgence of forest fires. Like Bolsonaro, Ricardo Salles, a 45-year-old lawyer, was defiant in the face of criticism. Last April, during a ministerial meeting, he proposed to take advantage of "the opportunity given that the press is focused on the coronavirus" to "pass reforms and relax the rules" related to the protection of the Amazon .
But the government has changed its tone recently, especially after international investment funds weighing $ 4 trillion threatened to cut ties if the country failed to reduce deforestation. In recent weeks, Ricardo Salles has been eclipsed by Vice President Hamilton Mourao, who took the head of the Amazonia Council, responsible for coordinating preservation operations, especially with the deployment of the military.
"Adopt a park"
Mourao recently launched a call for investment in programs like “Floresta Mais” (“More forest”) or “Adote um Parque” (“Adopt a park”). The latter offers private investors the financing of operations to preserve 100 national parks, the total area of which represents 15% of the Brazilian Amazon.
"Here is the Brazilian government's response: we have put in place instruments so that you, the investment funds, can help us preserve the Amazon," said Salles. The minister reiterated his criticism of rich countries reluctant to carbon credits - which could constitute a juicy market for Brazil - despite the commitments made during the Paris Agreement. “It's inconsistent to say 'save the forest, but we don't want to give you money because we don't want to buy Brazilian carbon credit,'” he said.
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Brazil: Very sharp increase in fires in the Amazon in July
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