“We need projects for the Amazon and not just for the Amazon”, says a letter released this Wednesday (6th) in Alter do Chão (PA) to candidates for the presidency.
The proposal was formulated after three days of meetings with 60 participants from the GT Infrastructure, a group formed by environmental NGOs, social movements and indigenous organizations.
Next Tuesday (12), representatives of the group should take the letter to former president Lula (PT), at a meeting of the candidate with movements in Brasília.
The document calls for a “moratorium for new large energy projects in the Amazon while there is no revision of the National Energy Plan in light of the country’s climate commitments”.
The group’s proposal is for infrastructure planning to include consultation with the population from the beginning of the process —when national sectoral plans are defined, such as energy and logistics—, and not only in the licensing phases of the works, when the The government’s option for the execution of a project has already been made.
“To discuss a new logistics model for the Amazon, rethinking priorities and institutionalizing the decision-making process, resulting in good planning practices, including the evaluation of alternatives, broad participation of society at all stages and meeting the demands of promoting the products of sociobiodiversity”, proposes the letter.
“Ferrogrão’s proposal, for example, the question is not whether the project is good or bad, whether it can be improved, but it is prior: why is this the way? Santos?”, asks Sérgio Guimarães, executive secretary of GT Infraestrutura.
One measure that can reduce the impact of large works is the anticipation of a socio-environmental analysis, say the entities. This step could be carried out together with the technical and economic feasibility analyses, according to a study by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) presented to GT Infraestrutura.
“When you get to the environmental licensing, the project is already mature, which makes it much more difficult to change its design”, says researcher Joana Chiavari, director of the CPI and one of those responsible for the analysis.
“The main infrastructure of the Amazon is the standing forest”, says Maura Arapiun, secretary of the Tapajós Arapiuns Indigenous Council.
The defense refers to the living conditions in the region allowed by the ecosystem services of the forest – such as the supply of water, rain, clean air, fertile soil, food production, climate regulation and the maintenance of biodiversity. “What allows us to live here is the forest”, says Guimarães.
The group rejects the model of large infrastructure works planned for the Amazon region, such as railways, highways and ports, aimed at the flow of agribusiness products, and also the construction of hydroelectric plants, which meet the demand for energy from industry and the rest. of the country, but it still leaves a good part of the communities in the region unattended.
According to data from the Ministry of Mines and Energy, 70% of the population without access to electricity distributors are in the Amazon.
On the other hand, the group of NGOs defends investment in infrastructure in areas that benefit the Amazonian population, such as basic sanitation in cities.
“Considering urban development as a fundamental process for sustainability and human well-being in the Amazon, with infrastructure appropriate to the local context”, proposes the letter.
The group also produced a study on investments in Amazonian cities in the context of adaptation to climate change.
The letter is also based on a book released during the meeting by Ricardo Abramovay, a professor at USP’s Environmental Energy Institute.
The work “Infrastructure for the Sustainable Development of the Amazon” proposes four dimensions to rethink the concept in the region: nature, care, services and collective organization. The text makes proposals for climate adaptation, the end of dependence on diesel in forest communities, internet access and strategies for the processing of bioeconomy products.
“Infrastructure cannot be synonymous with roads, ports for the transit of commodities, minerals and energy production, as it has been until now. Infrastructure is necessary for people’s lives and their economic activities”, says Abramovay.
The Planeta em Transe project is supported by the Open Society Foundations.
