Half-truths
In UN General Assembly, Temer praises reduction of deforestation but neglects to mention package of measures that weaken environmental protection
O Cerrado sofre com as queimadas neste período de estiagem, a baixa umidade no DF no fim de semana levou a Defesa Civil a declarar estado de emergência na capital(Jose Cruz/Agência Brasil)
While announcing to the international community the reduction of deforestation in the Amazon, at home the government of President Michel Temer is working to weaken environmental legislation.
In a speech this Tuesday, September 19, at the opening of the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly in New York, Temer cited data from SAD (Deforestation Warning System) that shows a reduction of forest cover in the Amazon of 2,834 square kilometers between August 2016 and July 2017 – 21% less than the same period the year before.
According to environmentalists, however, SAD data is not appropriate for quantifying deforestation, since the system is intended to identify areas of deforestation on a monthly basis in order to ensure swift action by government oversight bodies. In Brazil, the data used to measure deforestation is known as Prodes (Amazon Deforestation Monitoring Project), which has not been released for this year.
“Brazil is proud to have the largest tropical forest cover on the planet. Deforestation is a matter of concern, especially in the Amazon. We have been drawing attention and resources to this issue,” said Temer. “And the good news is that the first available data for the past year point to a reduction of more than 20% in deforestation in that region.”
The tone of the commemoration is at odds with measures currently being sponsored by the government. In August, a presidential decree abolished Renca (National Copper and Associate Minerals Reserve) – an area of 47,000 square kilometers in the Amazon between the states of Pará and Amapá. Despite its proximity to conservation areas and indigenous territories, the decree will allow some of these lands to be explored by private mining companies.
Renca is not the only area of forest cover in the Amazon that the government is planning to deregulate. In June, after vetoing Provisional Executive Order No. 756 due to public pressure, the executive branch drafted a bill that relaxes environmental control over an area of 480,000 hectares in the Jamanxim National Forest, in Pará.
“There are countless measures originating from the executive branch or from the government support base in Congress that contradict the version of Brazil that the president is trying to sell to the international community,” said Caio Borges, coordinator of the Business and Human Rights program at Conectas. “The president is commemorating a reduction in deforestation that is temporary given the current economic conditions. This reduction has occurred for reasons unrelated to the policies of the government, which has an agenda to dismantle environmental legislation,” he said.
As an example, Borges mentioned Provisional Executive Order No. 759/16, which became law in July and permits the registration of appropriated land, and Bill No. 3729/04 that weakens environmental licensing.
Immigration
The reception of immigrants by Brazil was another cause for commemoration in President Temer’s speech at the opening of the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly. In addition to mentioning Brazil’s refugee law, Temer also referred to the recently approved immigration law.
Today we have one of the most modern refugee laws in the world. We have just updated our immigration law, which is guided by the principle of humanitarian reception. We have granted humanitarian visas to Haitian and Syrian citizens and we have welcomed thousands of immigrants and refugees from Venezuela,” said Temer.
Once again, the president neglected to mention that, pressured by conservative groups, he vetoed 20 articles of the new law, defying the broad consensus that had been built in Congress. One of the most criticized vetoes was the exclusion of article 118, which granted residency to immigrants who were already in Brazil in July 2016, regardless of their immigration status.
The bill was signed into law in May and will come into effect on November 20. The government, however, has still not made public the text that regulates the law.
Against this backdrop, Conectas, Missão Paz and Sefras (Franciscan Solidarity Association) sent the Ministry of Foreign Relations suggestions for minimum principles for drafting immigration policies with a human rights perspective. The suggestions are intended to guide Brazil’s position in negotiations for the Global Compact on Migration.
