The Minister of the Environment, Joaquim Leite, accumulates worse numbers than those of his predecessor, Ricardo Salles, after a year at the helm of the portfolio.
With a more discreet and less controversial profile than Salles, the current incumbent managed to soften the negative news about the preservation of nature in the country under the government of Jair Bolsonaro (PL), but, in practice, maintained the environmental dismantling agenda led by the head of the Executive.
THE Sheetthe ministry’s press office sent a note in which it stated that Leite had achieved “several achievements” for the environment and for the country.
Studies on the sector, however, show a worsening in the situation on several fronts. The number of fires in the Amazon and in the cerrado, for example, is 20% higher this year compared to the same period in 2021, when Salles was still the minister. The information is from Inpe (National Institute for Space Research).
In May of this year alone, the Brazilian Amazon had the worst number of fires since 2004, while the Cerrado also had a record of fires for the month.
Deforestation in the Atlantic Forest grew even more and reached a level 66% higher in 2022 than last year, according to the NGO SOS Mata Atlântica.
Another negative data concerns areas with deforestation alerts in the Amazon, which broke a record in April, according to Inpe’s Deter, a program by the agency that triggers warnings of occurrences of this nature and which has the function of assisting inspection actions. environmental. In all, 1,012.5 km² of forest were cut down.
It was the first time that one of the first four months of the year had deforestation that exceeded 1,000 square kilometers.
In addition, rules signed by Salles and criticized by environmentalists were also maintained by Leite, such as the relaxation of rules that gave rise to the commercialization of illegal wood.
The current head of the folder also maintains the dissemination of false data, like his predecessor. Among them, for example, the statement that the government closed 645 dumps under Bolsonaro. A survey by the Climate Observatory shows that 30% of these sites had already closed their activities in 2018.
Márcio Astrini, executive secretary of the entity that brings together 70 civil society organizations, says that the reality of the Ministry of the Environment has not changed practically anything after Salles left.
“But this is not surprising, because the minister is President Bolsonaro. He has a clear line of environmental dismantling in Brazil,” he says.
He says that, apart from the negative numbers, the Executive remains negligent in the collection of environmental fines. “It is a more discreet version, but in terms of numbers it remains the same. The truth is that we have not had a minister since December 2018. The position remains vacant. says.
Even a measure of Leite that would be positive, the creation of a carbon market, was criticized by environmentalists and generated dissatisfaction even in the National Congress. In May, Bolsonaro and the head of the ministry signed a decree to regulate the sector.
In the opinion of experts, the measure indicates that the matter has finally entered the Executive’s agenda and serves as a kick-off for the country to design the carbon pricing model.
However, several points remain open, mainly in relation to deadlines and the obligation of sectors to reduce their emissions.
The topic is also under discussion in Congress. The lack of dialogue between the portfolio and the Legislature in the drafting of the decree caused irritation in deputies, who returned to discuss the topic after the publication of the rule in response to the government’s action.
Another hallmark of the Salles administration that Leite maintained, according to experts in the field, is the weakening of bodies such as Ibama and ICMBio.
The minister took office on June 23, 2021 after Salles asked to leave the government. The disembarkation took place at a time when he was the subject of an investigation by the Federal Supreme Court on the alleged favoring of businessmen in the wood sector from the modification of rules with the aim of regularizing cargo seized abroad.
In another investigation, the suspicion of Salles’ involvement in the irregularities that led to the largest seizure of wood in Brazil was raised. The findings were sent to the first instance of the Federal Court.
The current minister is close to Salles and, shortly after the exchange of ministers, it was already believed that the change would not bring about changes in fact.
Before ascending to the head of the portfolio, Leite served as secretary for the Amazon and Environmental Services and director of the Forest Department.
He was also a member of the Brazilian Rural Society and worked in the pharmaceutical industry.
With a discreet profile, he gained space with Bolsonaro for having maintained Salles’ bias in relation to public policies on the environment. Despite the harmony in relation to the environmental vision, Leite adopted a strategy of less confrontation with environmentalists and managed to reduce the negative news about the ministry.
THE Sheet sent to the minister’s press office questions about the data included in the report and about the actions that the ministry has taken.
The ministry replied that “in one year at the helm of the agency, Minister Joaquim Leite achieved several achievements for the environment and for Brazil”.
Among them, he cited a partnership with the Ministry of Justice and Public Security to combat environmental crimes, especially in the Amazon region, the so-called Operation Guardians of the Biome.
He also mentioned the launch of the public notice to call for a contest to hire 739 employees for IBAMA and ICMBio.
The decree on the carbon market, the “zero methane program”, “the improvement of the National Policy on Solid Waste” and the “creation of the Interministerial Committee on Climate Change and Green Growth” were other actions highlighted by the minister’s advice.
Regarding the survey that points out that the government’s data on the closure of dumps are false, the ministry did not respond.
