Presidential candidates raise environmental agenda to economic and geopolitical plans

The environmental proposals jumped to the front pages of the government plans of the presidential candidates best placed in the polls in these elections. With an economic focus, the programs by Lula (PT), Jair Bolsonaro (PL), Ciro Gomes (PDT) and Simone Tebet (MDB) cite topics such as deforestation control, energy transition to renewable sources and bioeconomy, among other solutions.

The actions make up strategies for economic growth and also for positioning the country in global geopolitics, in messages that seek to respond to the context of the diplomatic crisis guided by the explosion of deforestation in the Bolsonaro years.

The re-election candidate is also trying to correct the course of the environmental discourse, although he is the only one of the four not to put an end to illegal deforestation as an objective within the mandate.

To summarize the proposals of the four candidacies, the Sheet consulted the government programs delivered to the TSE (Superior Electoral Court) and interviewed representatives of the slates regarding these texts — except Bolsonaro’s, who did not respond to the report’s request.

“Expand Brazil’s role as a provider of climate solutions and establish itself as a world leader in a green global supply chain,” predicts Bolsonaro’s program. The text speaks of “freedom of responsible use of the natural resources that each individual or community legally disposes of”, citing indigenous people, quilombolas and riverine people.

Lula’s government plan promises to support the “emergence of an inclusive green economy, based on the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of biodiversity in all Brazilian biomes”.

“Brazil’s growth necessarily involves a clear environmental agenda, capable of proving that a standing forest is worth much more than a deforested field”, says Ciro Gomes’ plan.

“We will begin to lead the global geopolitical agenda in the coming decades, based on sustainability, a green economy and a well-structured and developed carbon credit market”, says Tebet’s program.

The similar tone responds to an international demand for the recovery of the country’s environmental policy. The messages come mainly from the European Union, the United States, the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) and participants in the World Economic Forum.

“The climate emergency today is the agenda that structures investment in development”, explains former Environment Minister Izabella Teixeira, one of the main formulators of the environmental agenda of Lula’s campaign.

“I have been communicating with international actors to bring the most contemporary vision of the environmental and climate agenda [para o programa de governo]”, it says.

The campaign has already announced an articulation with Indonesia and Congo to financially stimulate forest conservation. The bloc should consolidate negotiations at COP27, the UN climate conference, scheduled to take place in November in Egypt.

Before, in the 2018 elections, the agenda was still treated as a niche whose commitments were not presented as a fundamental part of the government plan.

After the election of President Jair Bolsonaro, whose campaign already brought proposals contrary to environmental protection, the country experienced a period of dismantling of environmental agencies, deregulation of norms, explosion of deforestation and fires and, consequently, a crisis in the country’s image in the country. outside.

Although the worsening of the environmental crisis in this period has reinforced commitments in the area, the responses of the candidacies assume different strategies. Among the four main candidates, Lula is the only one who proposes in the government’s program a tax reform “contemplating the transition to an ecologically sustainable economy”.

The instrument would serve to reorient economic incentives in the medium term, says Teixeira. “You’re going to have to deal with the losers and the winners on the agenda,” he says.

Ciro, Tebet and Bolsonaro’s programs, on the other hand, bet on market instruments, such as the carbon credit market — which Teixeira says are insufficient to encourage a transition.

“This is not how to develop we need to be sustainable; we are putting sustainability as an opportunity for development”, says economist Nelson Marconi, responsible for formulating Ciro’s government program.

“Carbon credit is much better than a specific taxation”, points out Natura co-founder Pedro Passos. Together with the former president of Itaú Candido Bracher, he formulated Tebet’s environmental program.

“The climate agenda does not depend on subsidies and incentives, but on coordination and governance”, defends Passos.

See highlights of the presidential environmental agenda

Ciro Gomes

In the energy area, Ciro’s program combines the objectives of increasing Petrobras’ capacity in the production of oil and derivatives and of initiating an energy transition so that the company generates renewable energies (such as solar, wind and also hydroelectric), aiming to eliminate the coal-fired power plants by the end of the decade.

“You will reduce and not eliminate [o desmatamento], because you are going to reforest with wood that you cut, then it grows back. Now, to eliminate illegal deforestation, we are in agreement. Sovereignly, because it cannot imply handing over the Amazon to other countries”, says Nelson Marconi about the commitment expressed in the government’s plan to reduce deforestation.

The government program also mentions the development of research for the economic valorization of the standing forest; the integration of farming, livestock and forestry; ecological and economic zoning and land security —without, however, providing details on these proposals.

As for indigenous lands, he says it is urgent that “they be respected, preserved and not illegally exploited by other ethnic groups.”

Jair Bolsonaro

“Increase the number of bases in the Amazon, making them fixed and permanent, promoting the effective presence of the State, thus curbing any and all crimes in regions where activities such as narco-garimpo and money laundering are predominant”, says the government program of Bolsonaro, without clarifying which bodies should gain bases.

The plan says that Brazil can be a “developed green country”. “However, it is complex, as a government plan is needed that can integrate different areas, such as education, research, economics and sustainability, among others”, he emphasizes.

The document cites instruments such as the carbon market and payment for environmental services and promises to strengthen the Proveg (National Policy for the Recovery of Native Vegetation), created by the Temer government to recover 12 million hectares.

The text mentions actions of the current mandate in the control of fires and deforestation, but does not present a goal of combating illegal deforestation for a next mandate.

According to government sources, the agenda was prepared by the Minister of the Environment, Joaquim Leite, with the candidate for vice president, General Braga Netto. Both did not return contacts. By email, the PL said it did not have a spokesperson for the issue.

Squid

Lula’s program cites the strengthening of federal institutions, with an emphasis on Sisnama (National Environment System), Funai (National Indian Foundation) and Embrapa (Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation).

It provides for a sustainable tax reform, the improvement of mining regulation and the fight against illegal mining, especially in the Amazon. In the energy area, Lula’s program foresees the exploration of the pre-salt layer at the same time as the expansion of renewable sources.

The text does not mention a position on the construction of hydroelectric dams in the Amazon, which marked PT’s management by the socio-environmental liabilities generated in the construction of the Belo Monte plant, in Pará.

When questioned, Lula’s adviser replied that his eventual government intends to auction 12 GW (gigawatts) of the total 52 GW of unexplored hydroelectric potential in the country. The portion corresponds, according to the note, to projects that do not interfere in protected areas.

The candidate’s program also highlights “the protection of the rights and territories of indigenous peoples, quilombolas and traditional populations”. “We have a duty to ensure the tenure of their lands, preventing predatory activities that harm their rights”, he writes.

Simone Tebet

Tebet’s plan proposes the recovery of environmental agencies and their budgets, the demarcation of indigenous lands, green diplomacy, bioeconomy, energy transition and income generation in the Amazon.

“If it continues with one of the worst HDIs (Human Development Index) in the country, we will not be able to preserve the forests, then it is very easy for organized crime to take over”, says Pedro Passos, who defends new legislation on land tenure regularization.

“Simone’s position is clear: illegally occupied areas need to be vacated. However, if those who occupy the area have ownership and tradition, they will have to be compensated for leaving”, he explains.

In the plan, the candidate says that “in its vast majority, the Brazilian productive sector — and agriculture in particular — already produces with sustainability and responsibility”.

In order to achieve “zero illegal deforestation”, Tebet explains that he will “apply a ‘fine comb’ on all measures taken by the current government that have resulted in an incentive to deforestation and devastation”.

“We are also going to accelerate and anticipate the achievement of greenhouse gas reduction and reforestation targets set out in international agreements”, says the text, without citing dates.

_{The Planeta em Transe project is supported by the Open Society Foundations.}