The Brazilian Senate could be about to strip the Amazon forest and other important ecosystems of hard-won protections and open up vast new areas for agriculture and cattle ranching. If the proposals are passed in parliament, the fate of Brazil’s forests will rest with President Dilma Rousseff, who could still choose to veto some or all of the proposed changes. And we might be asking for your help to try to persuade her…
This week, representatives from WWF-Brazil and around 200 other organisations demonstrated outside the Congress in Brasilia and delivered a petition - signed by over 1.5 million Brazilians - urging President Rousseff to oppose the changes. If she doesn’t, a dark shadow will be cast over Brazil’s environmental leadership in the run-up to the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, which takes place in Rio de Janeiro next year.
Quick catch-up on the Forest Code
Earlier this year, Brazil’s House of Representatives, backed by powerful agribusiness interests, passed controversial revisions to the nation’s long-standing forest protection legislation, or Forest Code as it’s known. One of the most progressive pieces of environmental legislation in the world, the law protects sensitive forest areas and establishes the amount of forest that can be legally converted to different uses.
The draft reforms were then passed to the Senate for review, where four standing committees were created to examine the proposed draft - committees for ‘Constitution and Justice’, ‘Agriculture and Agrarian Reform’, ‘Science and Technology’ and ‘the Environment’.
But despite hopes that these committees would revise some of the more regressive elements of the law, as of last Thursday, all four committees passed the proposed draft, with only a few changes that don’t really address the big problems.
Now the whole Senate must vote before the draft goes back to the House of Representatives and, finally, for authorisation or veto by the President.Those proposing the changes are pushing for her to make a final decision before the end of the year.
Scientists and other critical sectors ignored
Perhaps the most alarming thing about the whole process is that the new version of the law has been rushed through both the House of Representatives and Senate with a shocking disregard for input from critical sectors, as WWF-Brazil’s CEO Maria Cecilia Wey de Brito points out:
“Input from scientists, researchers, family farmers and social groups has been systematically ignored in both the House and Senate. You cannot argue that a law favours Brazil’s development and wellbeing when so many leading experts say otherwise. The entire process has defied common sense.”
Brazil’s environmental leadership in doubt ahead of Rio+20
The proposed changes also severely contradict Brazil’s recent efforts to position itself as a global environmental leader. Brazil has committed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 40%, and to reduce Amazon deforestation by 80% - both by 2020. If the Forest Code is relaxed as suggested, it would be very likely impossible to meet either of these goals.
In fact, studies show that under the proposed revisions, natural vegetation in Brazil could be cleared or not restored on more than 175 million acres, an area roughly equivalent to Germany, Italy and Austria combined. Under this worst-case scenario, more than 25 billion additional tons of CO2 would be added to the atmosphere, about four times the goal for global reductions in greenhouse gas emissions under the Kyoto Protocol during 2008-12, and 13 times Brazil’s total emissions from 2007 alone.
In June 2012, Brazil will host the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, known as ’Rio+ 20‘. It marks the 20th anniversary of the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, which was a turning point for global conservation. Rolling back protection of the Amazon could severely damage the country’s reputation as it hosts this and other upcoming global events, including the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics.
“We are watching, just before Brazil hosts Rio+20, a clear attempt to dismantle Brazil’s environmental legislation,” says Wey de Brito. “This is something unprecedented in our history.”
What we’re doing – and how you could help
Together with a committee of around 200 organizations, known as the Comitê Brasil, WWF in Brazil has been actively lobbying the Congress to take on board the concerns of scientists, environmentalists and small-scale farmers who are challenging the changes to the Forest Code.
Now they’ll be turning their attention to the President, who earlier this year promised, “to prevent any changes in law that would allow illegal deforestation or give amnesty to environmental criminals.” And they have public support too - a recent poll showed that nearly 80% of Brazilians would back a Presidential veto.
Depending on what happens at the final vote, we might well be needing your help to add overseas voices to the Comitê Brasil’s passionate efforts on this vital issue, which in the long run affects the whole planet.
The President of WWF International, Yolanda Kakabadse, has written to Her Excellency Dilma Rousseff, urging the Brazilian President to block the proposed reforms of Brazil's landmark forest law, citing grave concerns about likely increases in deforestation and related emissions. Read the letter here…
Please keep an eye on our website, Facebook and Twitter feeds over the coming days to find out how you might be able to help.
Quick catch-up on the Forest Code
Earlier this year, Brazil’s House of Representatives, backed by powerful agribusiness interests, passed controversial revisions to the nation’s long-standing forest protection legislation, or Forest Code as it’s known. One of the most progressive pieces of environmental legislation in the world, the law protects sensitive forest areas and establishes the amount of forest that can be legally converted to different uses.
The draft reforms were then passed to the Senate for review, where four standing committees were created to examine the proposed draft - committees for ‘Constitution and Justice’, ‘Agriculture and Agrarian Reform’, ‘Science and Technology’ and ‘the Environment’.
But despite hopes that these committees would revise some of the more regressive elements of the law, as of last Thursday, all four committees passed the proposed draft, with only a few changes that don’t really address the big problems.
Now the whole Senate must vote before the draft goes back to the House of Representatives and, finally, for authorisation or veto by the President.Those proposing the changes are pushing for her to make a final decision before the end of the year.
Scientists and other critical sectors ignored
Perhaps the most alarming thing about the whole process is that the new version of the law has been rushed through both the House of Representatives and Senate with a shocking disregard for input from critical sectors, as WWF-Brazil’s CEO Maria Cecilia Wey de Brito points out:
“Input from scientists, researchers, family farmers and social groups has been systematically ignored in both the House and Senate. You cannot argue that a law favours Brazil’s development and wellbeing when so many leading experts say otherwise. The entire process has defied common sense.”
Brazil’s environmental leadership in doubt ahead of Rio+20
The proposed changes also severely contradict Brazil’s recent efforts to position itself as a global environmental leader. Brazil has committed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 40%, and to reduce Amazon deforestation by 80% - both by 2020. If the Forest Code is relaxed as suggested, it would be very likely impossible to meet either of these goals.
In fact, studies show that under the proposed revisions, natural vegetation in Brazil could be cleared or not restored on more than 175 million acres, an area roughly equivalent to Germany, Italy and Austria combined. Under this worst-case scenario, more than 25 billion additional tons of CO2 would be added to the atmosphere, about four times the goal for global reductions in greenhouse gas emissions under the Kyoto Protocol during 2008-12, and 13 times Brazil’s total emissions from 2007 alone.
In June 2012, Brazil will host the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, known as ’Rio+ 20‘. It marks the 20th anniversary of the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, which was a turning point for global conservation. Rolling back protection of the Amazon could severely damage the country’s reputation as it hosts this and other upcoming global events, including the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics.
“We are watching, just before Brazil hosts Rio+20, a clear attempt to dismantle Brazil’s environmental legislation,” says Wey de Brito. “This is something unprecedented in our history.”
What we’re doing – and how you could help
Together with a committee of around 200 organizations, known as the Comitê Brasil, WWF in Brazil has been actively lobbying the Congress to take on board the concerns of scientists, environmentalists and small-scale farmers who are challenging the changes to the Forest Code.
Now they’ll be turning their attention to the President, who earlier this year promised, “to prevent any changes in law that would allow illegal deforestation or give amnesty to environmental criminals.” And they have public support too - a recent poll showed that nearly 80% of Brazilians would back a Presidential veto.
Depending on what happens at the final vote, we might well be needing your help to add overseas voices to the Comitê Brasil’s passionate efforts on this vital issue, which in the long run affects the whole planet.
The President of WWF International, Yolanda Kakabadse, has written to Her Excellency Dilma Rousseff, urging the Brazilian President to block the proposed reforms of Brazil's landmark forest law, citing grave concerns about likely increases in deforestation and related emissions. Read the letter here…
Please keep an eye on our website, Facebook and Twitter feeds over the coming days to find out how you might be able to help.
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário