With the start of the Ukrainian War and the distance imposed on the Russian government, European countries have been on alert about the risks of an energy crisis on the continent, as winter approaches.
Criticized abroad for the increase in deforestation and for an aggressive speech against indigenous and quilombola communities, the government of President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) has taken advantage of the increase in the use of coal in Europe and recent movements to buy gas to counter criticism of the policy. environment and try to change the tone in the demands made to Brazil.
During an event with industry businessmen last Tuesday (23) in São Paulo, the Minister of the Environment, Joaquim Leite, said that he had recently questioned a German ambassador about the criticism made of the Bolsonaro government, pointing out that the European country sought Qatar, in the Middle East, to buy gas after the Ukrainian War.
“Germany, for example, is at a crossroads in the search for energy via coal. The price of coal has tripled and they cannot transport it, because of the drought in the rivers,” said Leite.
“So, they went to get gas in Qatar and my criticism of the German ambassador was: wait a minute, are you going to get gas from a country that does not protect minorities and come here to talk about deforestation, Indians, that, quilombola? you need your gas, forget all that and run there?”, questioned the minister.
Germany’s economy will lose more than €260 billion in value added by 2030 due to the Ukrainian War and high energy prices, with negative effects on the labor market, according to a study by the IAB (Institute for Employment Research).
The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) adjusted to Germany’s prices will be 1.7% lower and there will be about 240 thousand fewer people employed, according to the study.
When reporting the conversation with the ambassador, Leite said that it is necessary to bring some balance to the discussion. “Brazil is, yes, worried about what you are doing. The climate agreement, to reduce emissions is the opposite, you are increasing emissions [com uso de carvão].”
According to the minister, the ambassador replied that the measure is temporary, the result of an emergency. Leite then said that he would not escalate the issue as he should, but stated that the two countries needed to be real partners.
On Monday (22), President Bolsonaro, in an interview with TV Globo’s “Jornal Nacional”, had also used a comparison with Europe to answer a question about the environment, saying that the Amazon was “the size of the Western Europe” and that forest fires also occur in other countries, such as France.
“When we talk about the Amazon, which we don’t say either, it’s in France that has been on fire for more than 30 days, the same thing is on fire in Spain and Portugal. In California it catches fire every year. In Brazil, unfortunately not it’s different, it happens. Much of it, some of it is criminal, I know that, [mas] another part is the riverside man who sets fire to his property there”, said the president.
With the shift in geopolitics, Leite told businesspeople that it was clear that Brazil could be part of a new supply chain and represent the security of clean energy for Europe.
He also said that there was a reduction in tensions with the Europeans, when the country was criticized for the increase in deforestation – which froze the government’s plans to withdraw the agreement between Mercosur and the European Union.
Geopolitics has changed a lot and Brazil has an opportunity to take advantage of the possibility of generating surplus energy, said the minister. “When we went there, we presented the potential that Brazil has for wind energy production and our green hydrogen costs half the price.”
Last week, the Reuters news agency pointed out that representatives of the European Union sought the Brazilian government, through Itamaraty and the Ministry of Economy, with the aim of advancing negotiations on the agreement with Mercosur, after a long period of stalled negotiations. .
The indication of European rapprochement after a series of obstacles to effecting the agreement is seen by the Brazilian government as a sign of the redesign of global value chains, especially after the pandemic and the War in Ukraine, which would have increased Brazil’s power in negotiations. .
Government members had a preliminary conversation with emissaries from the bloc and a new meeting is scheduled to take place until the end of September to outline a schedule of meetings, said one of the sources, who is from the government and spoke on condition of anonymity because the debates are private.
According to the agency, sources revealed that the discussion was buried and the topic returned precisely because Europeans need agricultural, mineral and energy commodities and can no longer count on Russia.
After 20 years of negotiations, the free trade agreement was signed in 2019, at the beginning of President Jair Bolsonaro’s term.
For it to become effective, however, it is necessary to have the approval of the parliaments of the countries, a point that did not advance in the face of pressure from Europeans alleging worsening of environmental indicators in Brazil.
The opposite movement, led by France, placed the destruction of the Amazon as a barrier, while recent official data show that deforestation in the forest reached a record in the first seven months of this year, and the country is heading towards the worst period of the annual fire season.
with Reuters
