How Bolsonaro's environmental stance became a hot global issue

Growing evidence of increased deforestation and massive fires in the Amazon rainforest during the administration of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro (pictured) has turned his environmental stance into a global issue.

“Our house is burning. Literally. The Amazon rain forest - the lungs which produce 20% of our planet’s oxygen - is on fire. It is an international crisis. Members of the G7 Summit, let's discuss this emergency first order in two days!” said French President Emmanuel Macron on Twitter.

The G7 Summit will be held this weekend (Aug 24-26) in Biarritz, France, and is set to generate international headlines related to the future of the Amazon, which is the world's biggest forest.

Besides several heads of state, global celebrities, including Portuguese football striker Cristiano Ronaldo, have also joined the calls for Brazil to more for the Amazon.

During his election campaign last year and today as president, Bolsonaro has criticized NGOs and the country's environmental regulations for exaggerating the problems in the Amazon, claiming such a stance is bad for the Brazilian economy, which has been very weak for several years. Bolsonaro began his four-year term in January.

Approximately 60% of the Amazon is in Brazil and 13% in Peru. The remaining areas are in Bolivia, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Guiana, Suriname and French Guiana.

ALARMING FIGURES

Deforestation in the Amazon escalated in recent months, reaching 2,254km2 in July, an increase of 278% from the same month last year, according to the Terra Brasilis monitoring system of the national aerospace research institute (INPE).

After the release of the figures, Bolsonaro fired the institute's head, criticizing the “political bias” of INPE, which enjoys international research prestige.

On Thursday, NASA joined the increasingly heated debate. 

"We have seen signs that deforestation is increasing right now," said Douglas Morton, head of the Biospheric Science Laboratory at NASA, as reported by Brazilian daily Folha de S. Paulo. 

The strategy used by the far-right Bolsonaro to take on his international critics is to say that the Amazon is a sovereign issue that only concerns Brazil, and the other nations that share the forest. 

“I regret that President Macron seeks to interfere in an internal issue of Brazil and other Amazonian countries for personal political gains. The sensationalist tone with which he refers to the Amazon does nothing to solve the problem,” Bolsonaro said on Twitter. 

MERCOSUR-EU TRADE DEAL AT RISK  

The Amazon situation has led to a rapid deterioration in Bolsonaro's relationship with leaders of the EU and other European nations. 

Earlier this month, Bolsonaro criticized Germany and Norway after both countries froze contributions to Fundo Amazônia, a fund for sustainable projects in the Amazon, over the environmental policy changes imposed by the Brazilian leader.

“I want to send a message to dear Angela Merkel, who suspended US$80mn for the Amazon. Take this money and reforest Germany, okay? It is needed a lot more there than here,” Bolsonaro told reporters recently. 

Since its creation, Fundo Amazônia supported over 100 projects with more than 1bn reais (US$259mn). Created in 2008, the fund is overseen by Brazilian development bank BNDES together with Germany and Norway. The two countries and Brazil's state-run oil giant Petrobras are the fund's permanent contributors.

Bolsonaro’s comments could prompt European lawmakers to not ratify the historic Mercosur-EU free trade deal. which was signed at the end of June after some 20 years of failed negotiations.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar has threatened to block the deal. “There is no way that Ireland will vote for the EU-Mercosur free trade agreement if Brazil does not honor its environmental commitments."

“President Bolsonaro’s efforts to blame the fires on environmental NGOs is Orwellian. His statement that Brazil will stay in the Paris accords on Climate Change ‘for now’ will raise antennas across Europe,” Varadkar said on Thursday night. 

Macron will also oppose ratification of the EU-Mercosur trade agreement, according to Brazilian media. 

DOMESTIC IMPACT

In Brazil, the Amazon situation is also impacting the domestic political scenario and there are growing fears of an international boycott of some of the country's commodity exports. 

The head of the lower house, Rodrigo Maia, announced the creation of an external commission to monitor the fires taking place in the Amazon. 

He also said that another commission will soon propose solutions to the government regarding the fires.

"It is important for us to keep our agribusiness exports strong and to preserve our environment," said Maia.

For this weekend, several groups will hold protests across the country against Bolsonaro’s environment policies.

Prosecutors in Brazil’s northern Pará state has also opened a probe to investigate alleged criminal activity behind the growing deforestation and fires in the Amazon. 

The probe was launched after an unnamed group published an ad in a local newspaper calling on farmers in the Amazon to participate in a “day of fire.”

Burning is allowed in the Amazon to a limited extent since it is a practice used by farmers to prepare their lands for the next crop.

However, environment groups claim that the practice of burning has rapidly expanded during Bolsonaro’s administration, which has reduced the monitoring of such activities. 

GOVERNMENT ACTION

The Brazilian government is becoming increasingly concerned over the growing global pressure and is now considering measures to curb deforestation and the spread of fires.

A spokesperson at the presidential office, who declined to be named, told BNamericas that the government has created an emergency cabinet to monitor the situation and is considering using the army to crack down on farmers and ranchers who engage in illegal activity in the Amazon.