RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Amid strong international and Brazilian investor pressure for concrete results in the environmental area, President Jair Bolsonaro is expected to announce at the Leaders’ Climate Summit his government’s commitment to speed efforts toward the goal of reducing illegal deforestation in the country and pledge an increase in public resources for agencies responsible for environmental monitoring, government sources said.
Minister of the Environment Ricardo Salles during a virtual meeting with entrepreneurs yesterday signaled that the government may bring forward to 2022 the goal of reducing illegal deforestation. In a letter to U.S. president Joe Biden, Bolsonaro had stated last week that he is committed to zero deforestation by 2030, a commitment perceived as “not very ambitious.”
The meeting, which also included Minister of Agriculture Tereza Cristina, to address the government’s environmental agenda, took place at a moment when the concern of executives in Brazil is growing with the repercussion of Bolsonaro’s environmental policy abroad, which may drive investors away from the country.
At the meeting, organized by the Dialogue for Brazil Council, coordinated by Paulo Skaf, president of the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (FIESP), Salles also reiterated his favorability to requesting funds from the U.S. to finance environmental preservation actions.
In addition to Skaf and the ministers, Ambassador Leonardo Athayde director of the Department of Environment of the Secretariat of National Sovereignty and Citizenship Affairs of the Foreign Ministry, and representatives of 50 large Brazilian private groups were present in the videoconference.
Among the CEOs and company representatives, the meeting was attended by Rubens Ometto (Cosan), André Gerdau Johannpeter (Gerdau), Carlos Alberto de Oliveira Andrade (CAOA), Dan Ioschpe (Ioschpe-Maxion), Edgard Corona (Bio Ritmo / Smart Fit), Eugênio De Zagottis (Raia Drogasil), Fernando Galletti de Queiroz (Minerva Foods), Flávio Rocha (Riachuelo), Francisco Gomes Neto (Embraer), Jerome Cadier (Latam), Lourival Nogueira Luz Junior (BRF), executives from São Martinho, Procter & Gamble, Nestlé, Cargill, Energisa, Via Varejo, MRV, Duratex , and JBS.
The remote meeting took place on the eve of the climate summit called by Biden. At the time, Salles said that Bolsonaro’s speech will be in line with the letter that the president sent to the American last week.
Bolsonaro’s allies assess that his participation in the summit will also be the first test of fire to calculate the power of influence of the new chancellor Carlos França on the performance of the head of the Executive Branch on the international scene.
According to sources, Bolsonaro’s 3-minute speech is expected to gauge if França has already managed to influence the government to adopt a new direction in the foreign agenda, including the environmental agenda.
Friends of the president bet that his speech will surprise and that he will show signs of concern about issues that are a priority for international leaders, including Biden.
Sources reported that the conversation “calmed the spirits of those present,” since the minister presented goals and did not stick only to the ideological discourse. On Tuesday, private sector representatives were concerned about a statement by Salles that Brazil is the target of interests of more developed countries.
Yesterday, entrepreneurs urged Salles to adopt concrete and short-term measures that indicate the country’s commitment to combat illegal deforestation.
Source: Valor