Germany signals the release of transfers to the Amazon Fund

After the victory of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) in the dispute for the Presidency of Brazil, Germany signaled this Tuesday (1st) that it intends to unlock funds that should be destined for the Amazon Fund.

Transfers to the forest protection fund, financed by Germany and especially Norway, were suspended by both countries in 2019, amid the rise in deforestation in the Amazon and after the government of President Jair Bolsonaro was accused of failing to act to contain the outbreak. undoing.

After Norway announced this Monday (31) that it would reactivate the Amazon Fund, the Secretary of State at the German Ministry for Cooperation and Development, Jochen Flasbarth, said this Tuesday in Berlin that it was willing to quickly reach out to Brazil again.

On Monday, the secretary had already reacted on Twitter to the news that Norway would resume cooperation with Brasilia. “Germany will do the same. The Ministry for Cooperation and Development is ready to re-engage in Brazil together with our Norwegian colleagues in support of the Amazon Fund. The Amazon rainforest is crucial to maintaining [a meta de] 1.5°C within reach!” he wrote, referring to the global warming limit set as a target in the Paris Agreement.

The suspension of transfers worth around 35 million euros was announced in 2019 by the then German Environment Minister, Svenja Schulze, current Minister for Cooperation and Development.

When congratulating Lula on his victory, the German Federal Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, had already expressly mentioned the expectation of cooperation on the issue of climate protection.

Background plans for the future

Germany and Norway suspended transfers to the Amazon Fund after the Bolsonaro government unilaterally extinguished two committees that were responsible for managing the fund, breaking the agreement between the countries that defined the project’s rules. The funds were managed by a team set up to carry out this task within the BNDES and should be used by Brazil to prevent, monitor and combat deforestation.

The then Minister of the Environment, Ricardo Salles, at the time criticized the management of the fund and made general accusations of irregularities in non-governmental organizations, which Norway rejected. Salles also wanted to use part of the funds to compensate landowners who live in areas included in Amazon conservation units, which is not allowed today.

If the Amazon Fund is resumed, the funds could be used to restore environmental governance structures weakened during the Bolsonaro administration, said Marcio Astrini, executive secretary of the Climate Observatory, which represents 65 environmental non-governmental organizations in Brazil.

For example, “the money should be used to fund local and federal law enforcement field operations to fight environmental crimes,” such as illegal mining and logging, Astrini said.

Then, the transfers of resources to the fund must be linked again to the results presented by Brazil in the fight against deforestation, to act as an incentive to protect the Amazon, said Anders Haug Larsen, head of public policy at the organization Rainforest Foundation Norway.