“This theme has never left voters’ minds.” This is how Marina Silva assesses the importance of the environmental agenda for Brazilians, highlighting the votes she received when she ran for the Presidency of the Republic in the last three elections.
This time, however, the former Minister of the Environment (2003-2008) and founder of Rede Sustentabilidade should pull the votes of her party as a candidate for federal deputy for São Paulo.
The child worked with rubber tapper leader Chico Mendes (1944-1988) to resist deforestation and to found the CUT (Central Única dos Trabalhadores) in the state. After being elected councilor, state deputy and having spent two terms as senator for the PT of Acre, Marina says that her career in Parliament was already over.
In this interview, she explains why she decided to run again, assesses differences with the Lula and Bolsonaro governments, and bets on strengthening a caucus favorable to environmental protection policies.
“We know that, in any situation of political tension involving the Executive, it is the rings and fingers of the socio-environmental agenda that are required first.”
Why do you want to return to Parliament?In 2023, we’re going to have to do a kind of post-war reconstruction. This dismantling takes place one by one intensive action by the government base. It’s very serious. Because it creates expectations not only of impunity, but of rewards for crimes against the environment and safe conduct for their practitioners.
When the PL that ends environmental licensing establishes that several enterprises can be licensed only with self-declaration, this is a premium for criminal enterprises.
When you make the PL on land grabbing, under the false argument that you are doing land regularization, this encourages the theft of public assets. We still have the indigenous time frame there, where you have a complete asymmetry: whoever occupied criminally until 2014 or even more recently can regularize it, while for indigenous peoples who have been here for thousands of years, [o reconhecimento] It has to be in accordance with the Constitution of 88.
These bills that are being processed today were already on the agenda before the Bolsonaro government and, during that period, you were a candidate for the Presidency. Why now try the Parliament, when there is a dismantling in the Executive?Many people began to hypothesize that, with a secret budget, abuse of political power and economic power, including using public budget, this can lead to a more reactionary caucus, more contrary to the interests of society.
Given this, I talked to several people to encourage them to be candidates. And that call came back to me too. If I was encouraging people — as Gandhi did, who only told the boy to stop eating sugar when he decided to stop himself — I also put a commitment to the agenda.
And we know that, in any situation of political tension involving the Executive, it is the rings and fingers of the socio-environmental agenda that are required first.
His departure from the ministry came under pressure from agribusiness sectors, represented in the government, who were opposed by environmental policies. And these interests are represented in Congress today. If elected, like you. intend to deal with the ruralist bench in the Chamber?The sectors that were pressing are even more turbocharged in the delay. Agribusiness is not homogeneous. There is a minority that advances, in the sense of doing their homework, however, they are underestimating a fundamental space that is the space of politics, allowing the face of Brazilian agribusiness to be represented in the National Congress in the worst way.
And that has losses. It’s hard enough to join the OECD [Organização para a Cooperação e Desenvolvimento Econômico] and environmental issues make it even more difficult. Investments are being directed to other countries, as investors do not feel safe about their investments being used in actions that destroy the Amazon.
Now, how to face? The biggest confrontation will have to be done by Brazilian society, increasing a bench that supports the formulation of policies that interest Brazil. And seek joint action. With the exception of the deniers and obstinate retrogrades, you can find people with commitment and environmental sensitivity in most parties.
During his tenure at the MMA (Ministry of the Environment), there was a significant drop in deforestation, from almost 28,000 km² to 14,000 km², which after his departure would still reach a historic low of 4,600 km² in 2012. rate has been rising back, today it is at a level of 13 thousand km², similar to 2009. Why was it not possible to maintain it?Because the policies were weakened, especially after 2012. First it had an accordion effect, with the Temer government they were even more weakened and, under the Bolsonaro government, they were destroyed.
In the Bolsonaro government, you have exactly the opposite effect: we took an upward curve and threw it down. They took it down and threw it up.
The current government argues that there would be no way to prevent deforestation without an economic incentive for conservation. Was this perspective lacking in the environmental agenda in previous governments?Bolsonaro missed. Any optics. Without resources, we have reduced deforestation by 83% for almost a decade. Without resources —external, right?— we put 725 people in jail, we imploded 86 clandestine airstrips. Today there are more than 1,200 clandestine runways and the government is losing air, land and water control of the borders of the Amazon. So Bolsonaro lacks any optics.
And the work we did even managed to get a fund, with non-refundable resources, for the results we achieved. We don’t ask for money to achieve results. We had the Amazon Fund, which this government banned.
Unlike his administration, the agenda defended by the MMA in the current government does not conflict with the proposals of other portfolios. What is the role of the MMA in a government that proposes to reconcile development and environmental protection?Deepen what we started in 2003. A transversal, integrated environmental agenda. The MMA is not meant to be sectoral, chasing the loss of what it does in Energy, Transport or Agriculture. It is for these policies to be present in all sectors of government.
Infrastructure, for example. It is not possible to imagine that undertakings such as [a usina hidrelétrica de] Belo Monte. It is said that wise men learn from the mistakes of others; now, stupid are those who don’t even learn from their mistakes.
In these elections, all the government plans of the main candidates for the presidency bring environmental proposals. Did the Bolsonaro years contribute to generating presidential commitments to this agenda?I will not give this credit to Bolsonaro, because this is an agenda of the world, which lives under a climate emergency. I hope this is an understanding, because Brazilian society has given several signs in relation to this.
In 2010, when Guilherme Leal and I were candidates [à Presidência] with this agenda, let’s not forget that we had 19.6 million votes. In 2014, despite everything that happened, I had 22 million votes. This was a sign that this topic, which was even used to try to scare voters, never left voters’ minds.
We are living in a post-war reconstruction. In the popular democratic field, whoever does not put [o meio ambiente] as something strategic in his government plan will condemn Brazil to being locked out. The world is heading in another direction.
Deadlines are too short. The UN climate panel points out that we should reduce 55% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions by the end of the decade. How to reverse the environmental crisis?What worked needs to be rescued in an updated way. You have to think about infrastructure for sustainable development. The Safra Plan will have to be the investment base for a transition to low carbon agriculture.
We no longer need to deforest. Embrapa says that. In the past, we banned the municipalities that deforested the most, forbidding credit, criminalizing the illegal production chain.
Now, it has a fundamental agenda: the destination of more than 70 million hectares of non-destined areas in the Amazon, where the greatest deforestation occurs.
Brazil has to take back the international role of the global environmental agenda for the homework it will do in the energy transition, in the protection of biodiversity, in zero deforestation, reduction of COâ‚‚ emissions and so on.
In fact, one of the proposals that I am going to work on is the creation of a National Climate Security Authority, to monitor the climate change agenda and liaise with government sectors.
X-RAY
Marina Silva, 64
He was born in Seringal Bagaço, in Rio Branco (AC). Graduated in History from the Federal University of Acre, she was a senator (1995-2011), Minister of the Environment of Brazil (2003-2008) and a candidate for the Presidency in the last three elections. Today she is a candidate for federal deputy for the Network in São Paulo.
UNDERSTAND THE SERIES
Planeta em Transe is a series of reports and interviews with new actors and experts on climate change in Brazil and around the world. This special coverage also follows the responses to the climate crisis in the 2022 elections and at COP27 (UN conference in November in Egypt). The project is supported by the Open Society Foundations.
