Brazil Declaration of Forests Indicates Support for Deforestation Agrarian Trade – 11/02/2021 – Environment

A The declaration of the forest was announced today, Tuesday (2) The British Presidency of COP26 unites at least 124 signatory countries. Among them, on the one hand, are those who own most of the world’s forests, including Brazil.

On the other hand, rich countries are committed to jointly allocating $ 12 billion in public funds by 2025 to fund forest conservation. The private sector also joined in the announcement, pledging a further $ 7.2 billion.

Although the two funds were announced together with the declaration, they are not included in the document, but form a global commitment to fund the forest. On the other hand, the declaration of forests has six principles; Five of them cite sustainable agriculture and sustainable land use.

The one-page announcement pledges to “strengthen shared efforts” to protect forests and facilitate the regression and financial outflow of tribal and rural communities.

At the highest level of the Ministry of Agriculture, citing the trade in products unrelated to deforestation, the second policy of the Declaration was obtained with concern.

Without elaborating, “Facilitating international and domestic trade and development policies that promote sustainable growth and production and consumption of sustainable goods will work in the mutual interest of nations and will not lead to deforestation.”

The fear on the part of the government is that the protection of fixed standards – now with the consent of forest owners – will be taken. World Trade Organization.

“This is a text of policy, a political document. It is the basis for future negotiations,” said Suely Araújo, a climate policy expert at the Climate Observatory.

“We need to know how this money will come in and under what conditions,” he added.

“[O texto da declaração] It is broad enough to accommodate the plans of countries and national arrangements to address this international ambition. This is a step that signals with money. Now, it must combine resources with results, ”said Isabella Dexira, a former environment minister.

The announcement of the $ 12 billion public fund brings together twelve donors: the United Kingdom, Norway, South Korea, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Japan, France, the United States, the European Union and Germany. According to the Presidency of COP26, the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) – ODA (Official Development Assistance), which includes developing countries such as Brazil, should allocate funds by 2025 to eligible countries.

The $ 7.2 billion pledged by the private sector includes donors to various corporate-related initiatives. Among them, Coalizão Leaf cited a contribution of US $ 500 million aimed at offsetting emissions through forest conservation.

The IFACC (Innovative Fund for Amazon, Cerado and Saho) initiative signaled a US $ 3 billion contribution aimed at eliminating deforestation from soybean and livestock production in Latin America.

For WWF-Brasil, the deal is a message from the international market. “In two days, COP26 has made it clear that international markets will not open their hands to carbon dioxide,” the NGO said in a statement.

The positioning of the Climate Observatory reminds us that this is the second ad in the last seven years.

“In 2014, in New York, dozens of countries signed a declaration promising to eradicate deforestation by 2020. Brazil never signed the text. The Glasgow document, which should be one of the key decisions of COP26, extends the deadline.
_{The journalist traveled at the invitation of the Instituto Clima e Sociedade.}