The NGO Human Right Watch (HRW) has called on Brazil’s president-elect, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, to commit to «concrete measures» to back up his promises on the environment and Amazon conservation.
In his first public statement after winning the second round of elections on October 30, Lula pledged to reduce deforestation in the Amazon rainforest to zero, defend indigenous rights and take a leading role in responding to the climate crisis.
«As the COP27 climate summit in Egypt begins weeks after his election, Lula must specify how he plans to defend the rule of law in the Amazon and protect both the forest and its defenders as soon as he takes office,» said the NGO’s Brazil director, Maria Laura Canineu, «He should commit to rebuilding the capacity of federal agencies responsible for environmental protection and the defense of indigenous rights,» she added.
Lula inherited one of the highest rates of Amazon deforestation on record when he took office in 2003. By the end of his second term, in 2010, the deforestation rate had been reduced by 67 percent, the organization said.
Among the measures that led to this result were the effective enforcement of environmental laws, the creation of protected areas, the demarcation of indigenous territories and the restriction of access to credit for large landowners who had seized public lands and lacked legal title or had violated environmental laws.
However, local communities and organizations expressed concern about the high environmental and social impact of dams and other projects promoted by his administration in the Amazon.
On the other hand, the Bolsonaro administration’s policies have allowed illegal deforestation to increase in the Brazilian Amazon, a «vital ecosystem» for combating climate change, while creating «an environment of impunity for those responsible,» according to HRW.
«Under Bolsonaro, deforestation in the Amazon increased 73 percent in 2021 compared to 2018, its highest level in 15 years. Some 34,000 square kilometers of Amazon rainforest were cleared between 2019 and 2021, according to official data. Nearly 99 percent of the deforestation recorded in 2021 had some irregularity indicating illegality,» the NGO has detailed in a statement.
In addition, fires, often used to clear land to prepare it for crops or pasture, have skyrocketed along with deforestation. The number of fire outbreaks, in the Amazon from 2019 to October 2022 was 368,642 The number of fires from January to October in 2022 is already the highest for the period since 2010.
As a result, a multitude of experts have warned that increased deforestation and fires are pushing the Amazon to a «tipping point» from which the rainforest would not recover, underscoring the urgency of reversing the damage, HRW has detailed.
«Lula’s transition team should prepare a strategy with concrete steps to reverse the rampant environmental destruction that has taken place under Bolsonaro’s presidency,» the organization’s missive wields.
In addition, as two of Brazil’s main trading partners, the European Union and the United States «should adopt laws restricting the importation from Brazil of agricultural products such as cattle, soy and palm oil and their by-products linked to illegal deforestation and human rights abuses».
For HRW, it would be positive for the European Union not to consider ratifying a pending trade agreement with Mercosur, a customs union of which Brazil is a member, «until Brazil demonstrates that it is ready to fulfill its commitments to protect the Amazon rainforest and address violence against forest defenders».
Members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) should also, according to the NGO, ensure that Brazil has taken «concrete steps» to halt deforestation and protect environmental defenders before considering the country’s membership in the organization.
«Brazil has lost too much time to address the urgent climate crisis (…) The international community must continue to closely monitor the situation in the Amazon and support efforts to combat deforestation and protect forest defenders,» Canineu urged.
