The Minister of Environment of Brazil, Joaquim Leite, stated that he did not follow the figures that showed record deforestation in October this year. The data were released this Friday morning (12) by Inpe (National Institute for Space Research) .
“When I return to Brazil, I will speak with Minister Anderson [Torres, da Justiça,] to understand these data from Inpe. I didn’t follow these numbers, I was focused on negotiations,” said Leite.
During the week, however, in several speeches and panels in the Brazilian pavilion during the COP26 (UN conference on climate change), the minister stated that he traveled every week to monitor the fight against deforestation on the spot and that the action of the National Force is Ministry of Justice were already showing results.
Leite also said that he would not speak of “the challenges of each country, but of the global challenge”, although he highlighted several points of what he calls “real Brazil”, which, according to him, promotes “inclusive green development”.
In the interview of less than 15 minutes, the Ministry of Environment chose the journalists who could ask questions. Only one of them, from TV Globo, was about the record devastation of the forest.
Sitting in front of a panel where the logos of the CNI (National Confederation of Industry) and CNA (National Conference of Agriculture) were displayed, he used the broadcast on the ministry’s YouTube channel to thank “the people who set up this stand to show it the real Brazil”.
After the interview, the minister spent 40 minutes at a “stand close”, in which he thanked the CNI and CNA three more times.
In the end, he refused to answer reporters’ questions about whether he ignored the announced official deforestation figures, whether he had been frustrated when being informed of the data, whether he could clarify the causes of the deforestation record, and even when he expected the fight against deforestation. deforestation implemented by the government had an effect.
For 5 minutes and 13 seconds, he walked from the Brazilian pavilion to a conference room followed by reporters who questioned him, without uttering a single word.
HIGH CUTTING TREES
Figures released this Friday by Inpe indicated deforestation alerts in October in a record area since the survey was carried out, in 2016.
According to the Deter system, 877 km² of Amazon forest were cut down, the highest number for this month since the survey began in 2016. The rate was 5% above that of October 2020.
The number contradicts the speech of the Bolsonaro government, which, in meetings and lectures during COP26, stated that illegal deforestation was already being fought with increased resources and patrolling.
The Brazilian delegation had been criticized by climate activists for not disclosing Prodes, official deforestation data, also measured by Inpe. Based on figures from August of one year to July of the following year, it is usually available in early November.
Environmental entities estimate that this annual calculation, which is more accurate than Deter, also shows deforestation very similar to the previous year and exceeds 10,000 km².
In the period 2019-2020, 11,088 km² of forest were cut down, a record for the decade.
The lack of control over illegal logging of the forest could harm the negotiations made at the climate conference by Itamaraty, which was praised for adopting a more flexible position and seeking consensus that would allow concluding the regulation of the Paris Agreement.
Initially scheduled to end this Friday, the COP26 should extend through Saturday and even Sunday, as there were no agreements on key points.
A draft text was published this Friday morning, with the proposal to double funding for actions to adapt to climate change in developing countries by 2025, compared to the amounts collected in 2019.
The items of transparency, timeframes and carbon market, pending for the conclusion of the Paris rulebook, remain with little definition, but there is optimism about the possibilities of negotiation.
Speaking at the plenary session at which all parties to the Paris Agreement spoke, the Brazilian delegation said: “We are almost there. But we are not there yet.”
Brazilian diplomacy said it is concerned that the text still has two options. “We urge our partners to work with us so that we can begin to fully implement the Paris Agreement.”
In the draft, the mention of the end of subsidies to fossil fuels, proposed in the draft published last Wednesday (10), underwent changes that, according to observers of the negotiations, would have the signature of the oil and coal lobby.
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