RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, will participate this Thursday in the climate change summit convened by his US counterpart, Joe Biden, an appointment where he will try to get rid of the image of environmental villain amid growing pressure from the international community.
The leader of the Brazilian conservative right has been forced to moderate the tone of his environmental policy after the arrival to power of Biden, whose victory he initially refused to recognize after insinuating there was fraud in the U.S. elections.
With the summit as a backdrop, Bolsonaro took the first step to improve relations with the U.S. after Donald Trump’s electoral defeat and sent a letter to Biden. He said he was willing to work with the international community for the “environmental protection” of the Amazon.
The president, a supporter of the economic exploitation of natural reserves and indigenous lands, shaped his speech for the upcoming summit meeting and pledged to end illegal deforestation in Brazil by 2030.
However, he clarified that his goal would require “voluminous resources” and asked for “all possible support” from the international community.
During his election campaign, Biden warned that Brazil should contain the “destruction” of the Amazon. Otherwise, it could face “significant economic consequences”, and said that, if elected president, as it happened, he would offer Bolsonaro’s government some US$ 20 billion to end deforestation.
The Brazilian president reacted harshly and warned at the time that he would not accept “bribes, criminal demarcations or unfounded threats”.
A CHANGE OF DIRECTION IN THE ANTI-ENVIRONMENTALIST RHETORIC
The abrupt change in course runs contrary to previous proposals advocated by Bolsonaro, a former Army reserve captain who has been in favor of reducing environmental fines, discontinuing indigenous land demarcations, and promoting the interests of rural producers.
The same week that Bolsonaro sent his missive to Biden, the Amazonas state police chief filed a complaint with the Federal Supreme Court to open an investigation against the Minister of Environment, Ricardo Salles, for allegedly obstructing an inspection on timber seizures.
For NGOs, the anti-environmentalist actions and rhetoric of the Bolsonaro government are behind the growing increase in deforestation in the rainforest, which has reached record levels under his mandate.
The devastation of the Amazon has tarnished Brazil’s image and has set off a market alert. A group of 280 companies and environmental movements, including Brazil’s largest banks and agribusiness firms, demanded this month that the government adopt “more ambitious goals” to protect the rainforest.
The demand is in addition to that of an important group of global investment funds, which last year warned of an eventual withdrawal of capital if the government did not strengthen the fight against deforestation and fires.
The criticism was recently joined again by the young activist Greta Thunberg, who pointed out that the Brazilian president failed in the “responsibility” to preserve “the current and future living conditions of humanity”.
PRESSURE AGAINST BIDEN TO AVOID AN AGREEMENT WITH BRAZIL
Several voices have also been raised in recent days to ask Biden not to succumb to a bilateral environmental agreement with Brazil until there is a concrete reduction in deforestation rates.
A group of 36 American and Brazilian performers, among them Leonardo DiCaprio, Katy Perry, and Caetano Veloso published a letter addressed to Biden in which they expressed their “deep concern” with the signing of a possible agreement and asked for “urgent actions” to face the threats to the Amazon.
The environmental activist NGO Greenpeace also took this position, stressing that a bilateral agreement “requires an active dialogue with civil society, traditional peoples and indigenous populations”.
“This has not been done by the current government, which has shown itself to be undemocratic and unwilling to listen,” said Fabiana Alves, Climate and Justice Coordinator for Greenpeace Brazil, in a statement.