Bolsonaro Revokes Decree Protecting Amazon Biomes From Deforestation

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On Wednesday, November 6th, Bolsonaro’s government revoked the decree establishing sugarcane agroecological zoning and preventing its expansion into sensitive areas in the country, such as the Amazon forest and the Pantanal wetland.

Decree 6.961, of 2009, was one of the main factors that made Brazilian ethanol a differentiating factor for exports, specifically for protecting biomes from deforestation. Sugarcane zoning was formally advocated even by the UNICA (Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association) last year.

In March 2018, when a bill by Senator Flexa Ribeiro was tabled in Congress to allow sugarcane plantations in the Amazon, UNICA voiced its disapproval on the grounds that it would endanger Brazilian biofuels and sugars in the international market.

The bill was eventually shelved, but the matter was brought up again by the current government. The Sugar-Energy Forum also demonstrated in this regard last year.

The revocation published this Wednesday was signed by President Jair Bolsonaro and the Minister of Agriculture, Tereza Cristina. The measure also contradicts an opinion by researchers from the Federal University of Minas Gerais, who sent a study to the minister demonstrating that there is enough area in Brazil for sugarcane expansion without needing to advance on the two biomes.

“Ethanol is the only first-generation biofuel accepted by the European Union, Japan and other countries as a measure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” said researcher Raoni Rajão, who led the study.

“Corn ethanol is excluded because it has a lower energy balance, in other words, it emits greenhouse gases in a greater proportion than it removes during growth. This means that Brazil has an important competitive advantage over its competitors, for as long as it can ensure that sugarcane does not generate deforestation,” he says.

“The maintenance of this zoning is a prerequisite for the European Union to maintain its import quota of 850 million liters from Mercosur,” the researcher continues. He conducted another study, commissioned by the European Commission, which pointed out that sugarcane is only low impact precisely because of more restrictive zoning. He also showed that the Amazon biome is not very favorable to the planting of sugarcane.

There are approximately ten million hectares of sugarcane plantations in Brazil – five million are in the Atlantic Forest, 4.8 million in the Cerrado (savanna) mainly in São Paulo and Minas Gerais.

The Amazon is home to only 144,000 hectares, approximately 1.5 percent of the total area planted in Brazil, with plantations centered in the south of Mato Grosso.

“In view of the low importance of sugarcane plantations in the Amazon biome, the poor suitability, the availability of areas for expanding this crop in other biomes and the high economic risk of a zoning change, it is strongly recommended that the current zoning established by Decree 6.971/2009 be maintained”, concluded the analysis.

In March of last year, the Coalização Brasil Clima, Florestas e Agricultura (Brazil Climate, Forests and Agriculture Coalition), a group comprising the productive sector and environmental organizations, had also released a document denouncing the plan to expand into the Amazon, which, in the organization’s view, “goes against the efforts made by the federal government, productive sector and society towards sustainable production of sugarcane in Brazil”.

According to the group, the change could lead to pressure for more deforestation and affect the image of sugarcane in the foreign market.

At the time, the Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi (Emílio Goeldi Museum of Pará) also released a technical note reinforcing that this authorization could increase pressure on deforestation and also affect water supply.