In November 2021, during COP26, President Joe Biden promised that the United States would invest US$9 billion to fight deforestation in the world. At the Glasgow event, more than one hundred countries, including Brazil, committed to zero deforestation by 2030, eight years from now.
The day after Biden’s speech, Democratic Representative Steny Hoyer introduced a bill with a long name: the Act to Mitigate and Achieve Zero Emissions from Nature for the 21st Century. The nickname is the Amazon21 Act.
The package provides that the US$ 9 billion fund will be used to combat deforestation – thus reducing carbon emissions, as the felling of trees releases gases into the atmosphere. The deputy calculates that cutting pollutants would be equivalent to removing all cars from US roads for two years.
“This is an issue that demands urgent action and long-term commitment as part of a broader global effort to confront the climate crisis,” Hoyer said in announcing the project.
Eight months later, there is little sign of urgency: the plan was sent in November to the House Foreign Affairs Committee and has not been moved since.
On Monday (10), Hoyer returned to comment on the project. “I am deeply dismayed to see the news that the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest has reached a new record. This deforestation is a serious threat to our planet, which cannot be ignored”, said the deputy, in a statement.
Data from Inpe (National Institute for Space Research) showed an increase in deforestation in June: 1,120 square kilometers of forest were cut down, the highest number for the month since 2016.
“I continue to work with my colleagues on both sides of the House to ensure that we can advance robust Amazon21 legislation that will address the impacts of deforestation and climate change. , said Hoyer to Sheetwhen asked about expectations for the progress of the proposal.
The package’s value of $9 billion is relatively low compared to the total US federal budget. For fiscal 2022, Biden has proposed spending $6 trillion in total. However, the increase in US public debt is pointed out by the Republican opposition as one of the causes of the record inflation that hits the country. The most recent data, from June, showed that consumer prices rose 9.1% in the last 12 months.
Faced with this, even some Democratic lawmakers have refused to approve plans that bring new spending, for fear of being accused of worsening inflation. There will be legislative elections in November, and the positions of all deputies and some of the senators will be at stake.
With many problems to solve, Biden has chosen to spend political capital on other issues, such as a package to restrict access to weapons and measures to try to contain inflation.
Amazon21 did not define how much of the US$ 9 billion would go to the Brazilian Amazon, but it makes room for companies to make more contributions and increase the amount.
The money would be administered by the Department of State and USAID (US Agency for International Development), to be used in actions such as enabling countries to enter carbon markets and adopt economic activities with lower environmental impact.
One point that may make it difficult to send funds to Brazil is that the money would be released from results to be measured independently. Thus, the worsening of deforestation data, as occurred in June, would make it difficult for new resources to come.
For Paulo Moutinho, co-founder of Ipam (Instituto de Pesquisa Ambiental da Amazônia), the dubious posture of the Bolsonaro government reduces the chances of foreign investment for environmental preservation in the country.
“The government is asking for money to conserve the Amazon, but at the same time it is working hard to pass laws in Congress that generate deforestation, conflicts in the countryside and loss of rights for indigenous peoples,” says Moutinho. “I doubt that any country will reach an agreement before the definition of the election.”
Moutinho and other environmentalists interviewed by the report believe that the project can bring a significant amount of new resources and that international cooperation is very important to help preserve the environment. But, for them, the main question is how to get the money to where it needs to be, since the application of resources depends a lot on the actions of the federal government, state governments and the participation of society.
“This money can be useless if it is poorly managed. And that depends on the government in charge, especially the central government. Today, any resource that falls will certainly not be used in conservation or sustainable development, because there is no political will to develop the region.” , evaluates the Ipam researcher.
“In the Amazon, we have large stocks of forest that are protected areas in indigenous territories or areas under community management, but most of the resources do not reach these communities. who carry out studies”, points out Adriana Ramos, advisor at ISA (Instituto Socioambiental).
Another questioned point is the project’s focus on offsetting carbon emissions. This makes room for financing economic activities with less impact on the forest. On the other hand, it allows countries like the US to continue emitting pollutants in large quantities, on the grounds that the dirt is being compensated in some way.
“The project is not about what needs to be done to really reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It maintains a system that allows industries to continue to pollute. It’s not really about protecting forests”, says Diana Ruiz, project leader at the Greenpeace in the USA.
Ruiz believes that the US government would have more effective results in combating deforestation if it adopted stronger regulations on the import of goods that can benefit from deforestation, such as meat, wood and grains, if they are produced in areas that have been devastated.
