Brazil runs the risk of losing the sovereignty of the Amazon to organized crime, and the contribution and effort of the world and the Brazilian authorities are needed to fight environmental crimes and find ways of supporting the inhabitants of the region, said the minister of the STF (Supreme Federal Court) Luís Roberto Barroso in an exclusive interview with Reuters.
Barroso argued that it is necessary to think of a sustainable bioeconomy model for the Amazon rainforest, involving the “best minds in the world”, with the adoption of ways of survival for the 25 million inhabitants of the region that do not negatively impact the biome. Without this, it will not be possible to contain the progressive degradation of the region, he said.
The Supreme Minister stated that, in addition, Brazilian authorities will have to be very committed to confronting environmental crimes, such as illegal logging and logging, illegal mining and deforestation, land grabbing, murders of forest defenders, drug trafficking and smuggling. .
“There is a real risk of losing the sovereignty of the Amazon not to any other country, but to organized crime”, said Barroso, who participated last month in the COP27 global climate summit, in Egypt, and reported important cases about half Supreme environment.
“Evidently, we want the world’s ideas, but we don’t give up any millimeter of sovereignty,” he added.
Even when asked, Barroso did not comment on the environmental performance of the government of President Jair Bolsonaro (PL), defeated at the polls in October by President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) and who, throughout his term, took a series of decisions to reduce mechanisms to combat environmental crimes, especially in the Amazon.
The magistrate was heavily criticized by Bolsonaro during his term, especially when he presided over the TSE (Superior Electoral Court) before the elections and defended the integrity and security of electronic voting machines.
The STF minister also preferred not to comment on his expectations regarding the Lula government regarding the environment.
Lula’s team, made up of names such as former minister Marina Silva, intends to reinforce actions in the area and has already received positive signals from foreign countries in support.
Barroso highlighted that this year the Supreme Court took important decisions in relation to the Amazon and climate change, including the determination for the government to resume actions to reactivate the use of resources from the Amazon Fund and the Climate Fund, the latter of which he was rapporteur.
According to the STF minister, the judgment on the Climate Fund is being celebrated as the first decision that treated the Paris Agreement on climate as a human rights treaty, giving it a special status and above the ordinary legislation of countries.
“All over the world, often faced with the inertia or denialism of public authorities, the role of the Judiciary in environmental protection and in confronting climate change has been growing”, he said.
“The preservation of the Amazon is essential for the world. I defend that the world contributes to the preservation of the Amazon”, he pointed out.
Norway and Germany have already indicated their willingness to resume financing the Amazon Fund in a future Lula government.
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