Last week, after receiving the vaccine from India, Brazilian Prime Minister Jair Bolsonaro thanked India and made a lot of headlines by recalling an episode of Hanuman ji bringing Sanjeevani herbs. Bolsnaro is in the headlines once again. But for the wrong reasons.
Bolsonaro is not just called anti-environment. The Bolsonaro administration is once again in the headlines for its anti-environmental policy. The 2021 budget proposed by the Brazilian Ministry of Environment is the lowest budget since the end of the last century. The current budget proposal re-outlines the environmental divestment strategy adopted by the Bolsonaro administration.
The 2021 budget proposed by the government for Brazil’s Ministry of Environment (MMA) and related agencies is the lowest since the end of the last century. This year’s Annual Budget Bill Proposal (PLOA), which is scheduled to be passed in Congress in February, to cover all MMA expenses, including mandatory expenses such as salaries and pensions, is estimated at $ 1.72 billion (US $ 313 million). Grants. In the historical series, since the year 2000, the amount earmarked for this purpose has never been less than $ 2.9 billion (US $ 529 million), adjusted for inflation. The analysis by Data Observatorio do Clima has come to the fore.
Remember, in Brazil, the world’s largest rainforest called Amazon, the lung of the world, which is constantly being harmed by Bolsnaro’s policies.
The “Pushing the Whole Laugh Through” report, released last Friday (January 22), examines the second year of environmental havoc created by the Zaire Bolsonaro administration, with data for the year 2020. In 2019, OC released the first version of the report in Madrid, titled “The Worst is Yet to Come” (“Worst case is yet to come”).
The new report suggests that the promises made by the current president during his 2018 election campaign, i.e. to end environmental activism and abolish MMA, are being strictly enforced.
Despite increased deforestation and fire for two consecutive years, the government is looking at both Ebama and Instituto Chico Mendes (Brazil’s National Park Service) with a proposed 27.4% reduction in the budget for environmental inspection and forest fires Starts 2021. In 2020 the current administration deepened the disintegration of social and environmental protection structures that were part of the Brazilian state, abolishing regulations and abandoning environmental management duties.
Reductions in funds come with other actions, such as reducing control over timber (timber) exports, allocation of positions in environmental agencies to military police officers, and a proposal to refute the Chico Mendes Institute. In addition to many other areas of health, political expression, and state management, public relations has been attempted, with poor results, to hand over the Amazon to the military. However, efforts to “push da hole return through” have faced resistance from institutions, civil society, and the international community.
Marcio Astrini, executive secretary of Observatoire do Clima, says
“The report shows that over the last two years, the environment and climate agenda in Brazil have faced unimaginable failures on a frightening scale. Bolsonaro adopted environmental destruction as a policy and to protect our biomes. Sabotaged equipment; it is directly responsible for fires, deforestation, and increased national emissions. The situation is grave because the federal government, which is the only entity that can address this scenario, is now the main problem. The reason is made “
Suali Azaro, Senior Public Policy Specialist at Observatoire do Clima, says:
“The Bolsonaro government is practically fulfilling its campaign promises in relation to environmental policy. The Ministry of Environment / Direct Administration has played a lesser role as the creator of public policies, and is currently creating derivative values that do not even justify its own existence. The statement of the President and other authorities of the Republic makes Ibama weak and delegated. Furthermore, there is evidence that the Instituto Chico Mendes will be abolished in the first half of this year, a step backwards that we may not even allow. This is an upcoming project of destruction “
Some highlights of the report are:
A historical analysis of the entire available budget (compulsory and discretionary) for the environmental sector (MMA and related entities) shows that expenditure forecasts for 2021 (R $ 1.72 billion) are the lowest in two decades.
Analysis of the Annual Budget Bill Proposal (PloA) submitted to Congress by the government shows a 27.4% drop in the federal budget for environmental oversight and forest fires when it compares to the grant amount in 2020 . This decline is even more in relation to 2019: 34.5%.
The proposed budget for 2021 reaffirms the current administration’s strategy to continue to suppress the oversight authority of Alabama and, in practice, to end the activities of ICMBio (ICM Bio): a comparison of the 2018 budget There was a 61.5% reduction in funds specifically earmarked for the construction and management of protected areas.
The total number of fines imposed by Ebama in 2020 was also the lowest in two decades: a 20% decline from the previous year and a 35% decline during 2018 (during the Temer administration).
· The latest increase in deforestation – 9.5% in 2020, followed by a 34% increase in 2019 – coincides with a 42% drop in legal penalties imposed for violations against flora in nine of Amazon’s states.
Anti-indigenous discourse resonated in the region, particularly in the Amazon: Invasion of indigenous lands increased by 135% in 2019. According to the Swadeshi Missionary Council, 256 cases were registered.
According to a survey by the Land Clergy Commission, at least 18 people died in the area conflict in 2020.
About Observatoire do Clima: A network formed in 2002, composed of 56 Brazilian civil society organizations, works to advance progress in climate change negotiation, public policies, and decision-making processes in the country and globally. . Website: www.oc.eco.br