Talking about the internationalization of the Amazon is absurd and ridiculous, says Al Gore

“If the Brazilian people make it clear in the electoral process that they want leaders committed to solving the climate crisis, the benefits for Brazil in terms of jobs, a safer and cleaner environment and a more prosperous future are very clear to see. . There is no controversy.”

The statement is from Al Gore, former vice president of the United States and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in combating global warming.

In an exclusive interview with Sheetmade by telephone, Al Gore said that it would not be appropriate to defend a candidate in the Brazilian presidential races, but asked that people inform themselves as much as possible about the current climate stage and take this into account when voting.

“I hope that Brazilians who share these same concerns, and enthusiasm about the new opportunities, will consider participating in this speech, learn about the climate crisis and become active participants in the October elections,” he said.

Regarding the coup-based speeches of President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) against electronic voting machines, Al Gore highlighted that any national leader who seeks to undermine public trust is an enemy of democracy.

In 2000, the then Democratic candidate for the US presidency accepted an extremely tight election result and recognized his opponent, George W. Bush, as the winner — despite all the confusion surrounding the poll results.

In the interview, Al Gore also recalled the awkward dialogue he had with Bolsonaro during the 2019 World Economic Forum, assured that he is not in favor of the internationalization of the Amazon and commented on the launch of free training to train climate leaders in Brazil. The initiative is from the Climate Reality Project, a global organization founded by him and represented in the country by the CBC (Centro Brasil no Clima).

Mr. Do you consider that Bolsonaro’s stance on climate change harms actions to combat deforestation in the Amazon? Do you see a relationship between these two things? Clear. Policies adopted in Brazil or any other country have a significant impact on the worsening of the climate crisis or its resolution.

I am aware that you have an election coming up in early October. I’m not a Brazilian citizen, so I don’t think it’s appropriate to be an advocate in your political dispute. That is up to the Brazilians to decide.

But I encourage everyone to inform themselves as much as possible about the climate crisis and about the fork in the road that Brazil now faces. I encourage people to vote when this election comes and ask them to learn more about why this climate crisis is the key to the future, for better or for worse.

If we decide to solve the climate crisis, and if the Brazilian people make it clear in the electoral process that they want leaders committed to solving the climate crisis, the benefits for Brazil in terms of jobs, a safer and cleaner environment and a brighter future prosperous are very clear to see. There is no controversy.

Still, the interest [da indústria] of fossil fuels in all countries has worked hard to capture policies and try to enforce laws that guarantee the continued burning of fossil fuels and the continued destruction of the Amazon.

I hope that Brazilians who share these same concerns, and enthusiasm about the new opportunities, will consider participating in this speech, learning about the climate crisis and becoming active participants in the October elections.

In 2019, during the World Economic Forum, Mr. met with Bolsonaro and said he was deeply concerned about the Amazon. At the time, he replied that he wanted to explore the forest’s resources with the US. Mr. remember that dialogue? How did you interpret this? [Risos] Yes, I remember that dialogue very well. It was actually captured on a video. I also asked about my dear and late friend Alfredo Sirkis, and he also made a comment.

As for the line about inviting the United States to join Brazil and explore the resources of the Amazon, my response was “I’m not sure what you mean by that.” And the reason I answered that way is, in the first place, [o fato de] the Brazilian people support the protection of the Amazon, not its destructive exploitation.

I don’t think it would improve the activities he has in mind for any company in the US to participate. I think that these activities should be decided by Brazilians and I hope they take this into account in the next elections.

There is a phrase attributed to you that the Amazon would not be a Brazilian property, but everyone’s property. Mr. have i said that? No, I never said that. In fact, I can send material showing how this was a false report. I can show chapter and verse. I never said that.

I understand very well that the Brazilian Amazon belongs to Brazil. It certainly has global significance, but decisions about the future of the Amazon are decisions that must be made by Brazil and not by anyone other than Brazilians.

I ask this because the vice president, Hamilton Mourão, has already said that Mr. defends the internationalization of the Amazon, understanding it as a threat. How do you see this? The Amazon will not be internationalized. Nobody will talk, much less try to change Brazil’s control over the Brazilian Amazon, this is absurd and ridiculous. Anyone who wants to demagogically appeal to nationalism can make false threats to Brazil’s territorial integrity.

Mr. has been warning about the climate crisis for years and now we are seeing the problem get worse. Do you believe that the crisis is unfolding faster than you expected? Yes, and more importantly than what I think, the scientists themselves — who are the real experts on the climate crisis — were surprised by the development even faster than they had projected.

In Brazil, you saw for yourself the multiple flood emergencies. This year alone, heavy rains in the state of Pernambuco — 236 millimeters in 48 hours — killed at least 121 people. In April, Rio de Janeiro experienced record rainfall of 800 millimeters in 48 hours, many floods and landslides that killed at least 18 people.

In addition, the emergence of drought conditions occurred more quickly than many scientists projected. Last year, the emergence of drought in the La Plata Basin cost Brazil US$ 4.3 billion (R$ 22.8 billion). A year earlier, the drought in the Pantanal region cost US$ 3 billion in damages (R$ 15.9 billion).

Crop yields are being reduced by the climate crisis for wheat, corn, soy and rice crops in Brazil. And of course, when you burn fossil fuels, emissions include not only greenhouse gases like CO2, but also particulate pollution that causes many deaths.

In 2020, the last year for which we have statistics, there were more than 84,000 premature deaths in Brazil from the effects of breathing this pollution, mainly from the burning of fossil fuels.

The Amazon, as Brazilians know, is approaching a negative tipping point, because of the many impacts of the climate crisis, especially the fires, which are intentionally caused to illegally deforest land. So, for these and other reasons, Brazil is at a crossroads and the time to act is now.

The good news is that Brazil has incredible potential to create millions of jobs and profit from the deployment of new technologies that are cleaner and cheaper. Brazil has one of the cheapest wind and solar energy in the world. Today, it is officially much cheaper to build new wind capacity in Brazil than to continue operating existing gas or coal plants.

Brazil also has the lowest cost for producing green hydrogen than any other nation in the world. So-called blue hydrogen has no chance of success, it’s a dead end — and of course the fossil fuel industries want to steer people towards blue hydrogen. But green hydrogen is an incredible opportunity for Brazil and we are starting to see a real take-off for these new industries.

In the 2000s, you admitted to having lost a very close election. Today, Bolsonaro insists on discrediting electronic voting machines, raising doubts as to whether he would accept any negative results. Mr. Do you believe in any risk of coup? Well, I think support for freedom, self-determination and representative democracy is being challenged in many countries around the world. Vladimir Putin has orchestrated opposition to democracy in many countries. Putin and his allies have tried to destroy the future of democracy and replace it with authoritarian dictatorships.

Dictatorships are extremely harmful for reasons most people understand. I am not an expert on political dialogue in Brazil, but I will say that any national leader who tries to undermine public trust and the people’s ability to govern themselves is an enemy of democracy. [Tomem] Beware of false accusations, fabricated stories, and the effort to create false doubts about whether democracy works.

Democracy is the best form of government in all countries. But people who love self-determination and self-government must be really willing to work hard to protect it.

The Climate Reality Project is launching a training program focused on Brazil. What it is? This training is designed to provide people with an in-depth knowledge of the climate crisis, its causes and solutions. Everyone who goes through the training will be connected to a network of others who are in the same circumstances. They will be mentored and learn to be more effective advocates for solutions to the climate crisis.

This is a critical moment, especially in Brazil, because Brazil’s role is very significant in this context. It is a country that has been suffering many of the impacts of the climate crisis and is in a favorable position to provide many of the solutions.

X-RAY

Al Gore, 74

Former US Vice President under Bill Clinton (1993 to 2001), Al Gore is now an environmental activist. In 2007, he won the Nobel Peace Prize along with the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), for the effort to disseminate information about global warming. That same year, his film “An Inconvenient Truth”, which talks about climate change, was the Oscar winner for best documentary. In 2000, Gore was the Democratic nominee in the US presidential election, which he lost after a close contest with George W. Bush.