BRAZIL: A TALE OF CONTRADICTIONS IN CLIMATE CHANGE

Brazil is the largest country in South America and the fifth-largest nation globally, with an area of

85,11,965 square kilometres. The Brazil rain forest ecosystem is home to a diverse species of plants

and animals, including exotic ones. It has 600 mammal species, 1,500 fish species, 1,600 bird species

and 1,00,000 different types of insects. 

The Problem

Climate change is threatening the rainforest ecosystem. If politicians do not act, this amazon basin

can become Savannah. The early effect of global warming is already visible. The average

temperature in the past decades has risen by 0.5°C. This has significantly altered the rainfall patterns.

The Brazilian government built the Trans-Amazonian highway in the 1970s to help access the

remote areas of the rainforest, and it runs for 3200 kilometres connecting these areas. To attract

settlers from Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, the government offered free land along the highway and

paid them to move out there to cultivate the land. This resulted in a new rush to the land. The illegal

expansions by these people for cattle ranching and the need for high protein soy feed for animals

accelerated the deforestation rate. An area of the size of a football field was destroyed every two

seconds. This formed the ‘arc of deforestation. In addition to global warming, illegal activities of

humans have also contributed to this decline. Brazilian Amazon has lost more than 18% of its

rainforest in the last 40 years due to illegal logging, cattle ranching and soy agriculture.
The Positive Turn 

Thankfully the government woke up. Under the leadership of President Lula da Silva and

Environment Minister Marina Silva took reformative measures to protect the rainforest. In March

2004, she started an Action Plan for Prevention and Control of Deforestation. This plan was

implemented in 3 phases till 2015. The focus was on creating a shared and sustainable space by

encouraging nut harvesting and rubber tapping. The indigenous people were given more land as they

focused on preserving the forest. The government strengthened the forest code, and the

Environmental Ministry monitored this. IBAMA, the police agency tracked and penalised people for

illegal deforestation. This resulted in tremendous benefits, and the deforestation rates fell by more

than half in 2006. The activists put pressure on the food companies for contributing to deforestation.

Due to this mounting pressure, in 2006, food companies signed the Soy Moratorium. Three years

later, beef companies signed the Beef Moratorium. This prevented the companies from buying from

newly deforested lands. Due to all these reforms, deforestation rates dropped to historic lows. Silva’s

measures helped Brazil to find new ways of making amazon forest productive and protected.
The U-Turn

All good things end, so do all marvellous things. Human greed has caught up again. The politicians

did a volte-face. The Ruralistas are a conservative group of politicians representing the interest of the

agriculture industry. Ruralistas wanted to roll back the reforms started by Silvia. They found an ally

in the new President, Jair Bolsonaro. Once Bolsonaro rose to power, he rolled back the reforms. This

led to increased deforestation. Between August 2020 and July 2021, the rainforest lost 10,476 square

kilometres, an area 13 times the size of New York. According to a Brazilian research institute, this

figure is 57% higher than the previous year and the worst since 2012. The worst is not yet over;

Bolsonaro has also promised to remove some protections for the Amazon rainforest, including

rolling back indigenous reserves, such as Raposa Serra do Sol. He has also advocated for agriculture

and mining exploration in that area. 

The Amazon is a vital carbon store that slows down the pace of global warming. Brazil and the

World leaders should realise this and take steps to implement treaties to save Amazon forests.

Governments educate and build awareness among people to save Forests.