Environment: transition to a low-carbon economy is a priority

The resumption of protagonism in the international agenda on climate, forests, biodiversity, indigenous peoples and traditional populations, water, the Amazon, the ocean, clean energy and the decarbonization of production chains is among the priorities in relation to the environmental area of ​​the government of President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva who takes office next Sunday (1st). The information is part of the final report of the transition office released after the closure of the activities carried out by the thematic groups. The Ministry of the Environment will be led by Marina Silva. Former senator, Marina Silva returns as Minister of the Environment – Reproduction/YouTube The new government has among its goals to carry out the transition to a low-carbon economy, still without regulation in the country. The strategy is aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions and has been gaining more and more space around the world. “The transition to a low-carbon economy is understood as a competitive advantage for the country, which is able to generate businesses, products and services with lower carbon emissions, in addition to offering solutions for the needs of mitigating and adapting to climate change. Our challenge is the reconstruction of the dismantling of institutions and the country’s reunion with its future as an environmental power”, points out the document. According to the survey, the government of Jair Bolsonaro “promoted a deliberate and illegal dismantling of public policies, regulatory frameworks, spaces of control and social participation, and public bodies and institutions linked to the preservation of forests, biodiversity, genetic heritage and of the climate and environmental agenda”. To reverse this scenario, the transition team proposes the repeal of several “extremely serious” normative acts that have already been the subject of lawsuits before the Federal Supreme Court (STF). Logs of wood in a sawmill yard near the municipality of Colniza, northwest Mato Grosso – Marcelo Camargo/Arquivo Agência Brasil “The Green Package, analyzed by the STF, is made up of seven lawsuits in which acts of the Bolsonaro government that led to the poor state performance, the breakdown of Brazilian environmental legislation, the weakening of inspection and the fight against environmental crimes and crimes related to indigenous peoples, the lack of protection of the environment as a whole and, in particular, of the Amazon biome”, says the report . The suggested revocations have, among their objectives, that of controlling deforestation, resuming the Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Legal Amazon (PPCDAM) which, according to the transition group, is one of the “main instruments capable of controlling deforestation , contributing to the reduction of gas emissions”. The report also proposes putting an end to impunity, revoking “decrees that annulled environmental fines, paralyzed the environmental inspection system and created an environment of persecution of inspectors”. The estimated loss with the annulment of these fines is more than R$ 18 billion in resources for the public coffers, according to surveys presented in the report. Also in the context of environmental protection, proposals were presented for the total repeal of the decree that allows illegal mining in the Amazon (10,966/2022); the resumption of the Amazon Fund; and the structuring of the National Council for the Environment (Conama). Deforestation Degraded area in the municipality of Colniza, northwest Mato Grosso – Marcelo Camargo/Arquivo Agência Brasil According to the survey, deforestation rates in the Amazon and Cerrado reached peaks never seen for 15 years. “There was a 60% increase in deforestation in the Amazon during the Bolsonaro government, the highest percentage increase that has ever occurred in a presidential term, since the beginning of satellite measurements in 1988,” says the report. Another point highlighted in the document in relation to the environment concerns the impact caused by the imposition of barriers to Brazilian products in international trade, the restriction of access to credit, the loss of credibility of Brazil before the rest of the world, in addition to the commitment of the national sovereignty over the Amazon. Children play in the riverside community of São Lourenço – Marcelo Camargo/Arquivo Agência Brasil “Traditional communities and peoples were persecuted or forgotten, in total ignorance about their importance for the protection of Brazilian biodiversity and the attraction of funding and international donations with a focus on in environmental and social sustainability”, adds the document. Staff The survey prepared by the transition team also warns of the reduction and equipping of staff in the staff of the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama), Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio), Brazilian Forestry System (SFB) and the Ministry of the Environment (MMA). Currently, these bodies have 2,103 vacant positions. “While Ibama had 1,800 civil servants working on environmental inspections in 2008, now there are only around 700, not all of them in the field. There was effective equipment and occupation of management and direction positions without technical capacity and policy of action in the area of ​​environmental protection and management. There are striking cases of persecution and harassment of public servants of the agencies”, says the report.

Agência Brasil