Nós tememos pela Amazônia (We fear for Amazon)

Joe Biden

(FULL ENGLISH VERSION BELOW)

INTRO:

O governo Bolsonaro discute à portas fechadas com o governo americano de Joe Biden, o segundo visa um pacto com o Brasil com a finalidade de preservação ambiental e amenização de mudanças climáticas, o primeiro visa obtenção de lucro com um acordo composto por vãs promessas, já que o desmonte de políticas e órgãos ambientais brasileiros têm sido feito desde que Bolsonaro assumiu o cargo. Estamos aqui para pedir que Joe Biden escute quem protege o meio ambiente, antes de fechar negócio com Bolsonaro!

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The Bolsonaro government deals behind closed doors with the American government of Joe Biden. The second (Joe Biden) seeks a pact with Brazil for the purpose of environmental preservation and mitigation of climate change, the first (Bolsonaro) seeks profit with an agreement composed of vain promises, already that the dismantling of Brazilian environmental policies and bodies has been done since Bolsonaro took office. We are here to ask President Joe Biden to listen to those who protect the environment, before closing deals with Bolsonaro!


Full portuguese version:

Nos dias 22 e 23 de Abril será realizada uma cúpula sobre o clima convocada pelo presidente dos Estados Unidos, Joe Biden, que reunirá 40 líderes mundiais. Entre esses líderes estará o Presidente brasileiro, Jair Bolsonaro, que visa fechar um acordo com os Estados Unidos, que consiste na transferência monetária em troca da preservação ambiental. Um projeto já foi apresentado a John Kerry, secretário responsável pelas discussões climáticas do governo americano. Esse projeto foi apresentado por Ricardo Salles, o ministro brasileiro do meio ambiente, em uma das reuniões que estavam sendo feitas a portas fechadas por ambos os governos.

O acordo estabelece que a contribuição dos Estados Unidos ao Brasil irá para a preservação da Amazônia, talvez devesse ir para o Fundo Amazônia, se não tivesse sido paralisado pelo governo. Esse fundo doa recursos financeiros de terceiros e de países estrangeiros para financiar projetos de prevenção, monitoramento e combate ao desmatamento, além de promover a conservação e o uso sustentável da Amazônia Legal.

A realidade é que as taxas de desmatamento são as mais altas desde 2012 e começaram a aumentar logo depois que Bolsonaro assumiu a presidência. A meta do governo de reduzir o desmatamento é inferior ao valor que já foi registrado apenas no atual governo. Quando Bolsonaro assumiu o cargo, o desmatamento era de 7.500 km². Ele aumentou em 48%, para 11.088 km². A média 2016/2020 é 8.700 km².

Em 2020, quando o desmatamento atingiu seu pico, o governo Bolsonaro bloqueou RS$2,9 bilhões do Fundo, afetando diretamente os trabalhos de fiscalização e, portanto, favorecendo o desmatamento.

Lembrando que Ricardo Salles pretendia usar recursos do Fundo Amazônia para indenizar proprietários que vivem em áreas ocupadas em unidades de conservação da Amazônia, e que foi rejeitado por países europeus, como Alemanha e Noruega que já haviam sido contrariados pelas ações unilaterais de Ricardo Salles. Ainda, em setembro de 2020, Salles ironizou a fala de Joe Biden sobre formar uma coalizão internacional para transferir U$20 bilhões para a preservação da Amazônia, dizendo: “Só uma pergunta: a ajuda dos US$20 bilhões do Biden, é por ano?” em seu twitter.

Ou seja, não podemos confiar ou ter certeza sobre para onde iria o dinheiro dos Estados Unidos.

Sabendo das intenções quanto à preservação ambiental e lutas contra mudanças climáticas levantadas pelo governo de Joe Biden, Bolsonaro e Ricardo Salles parecem se aproveitar da ideia de ganhar dinheiro com isso, fazendo promessas que são imorais como: reduzir o desmatamento pela metade, mas esta metade é 16% maior do que a taxa de desmatamento quando Bolsonaro assumiu a presidência.

Em dezembro de 2020, Ricardo Salles (ministro do meio ambiente) e Ernesto Araújo (ex-ministro de relações exteriores), apresentaram uma meta para o Acordo de Paris que permite que o Brasil emita muito mais gases de efeito estufa até 2030, do que era nossa meta anterior. Foi movida uma ação popular contra ambos por “pedalada climática”.

Bolsonaro e Salles parecem aproveitar a ideia de ganhar dinheiro com as intenções de preservação e lutas contra as mudanças climáticas levantadas pelo governo de Joe Biden.

Não é possível a realização de acordos com um governo destrutivo como o de Bolsonaro, que constantemente movimenta chefias responsáveis pela fiscalização de áreas desmatadas e irregularidades, que demite o superintendente da Polícia Federal do Amazonas que denunciou o ministro do meio ambiente por ficar ao lado de madeireiros ilegais.

Não é possível fechar acordos sem ouvir o que pessoas na linha de frente dessa batalha pela preservação ambiental sejam ouvidas, os indígenas, os ambientalistas e os pesquisadores, todos que apontam como o governo Bolsonaro não será benéfico à Amazônia com ou sem investimento dos Estados Unidos, pois nunca demonstrou ações efetivas para barrar essa destruição, muito pelo contrário, apenas incentivou.

Duzentas organizações brasileiras já enviaram uma carta a Joe Biden pedindo-lhe que não negocie silenciosamente com Bolsonaro e Ricardo Salles, mas que ouça a opinião pública, de ambientalistas, ativistas e organizações que há muito lutam pela preservação do meio ambiente. A Apib (Articulação dos Povos Indígenas do Brasil) também se mobilizou para organizar um vídeo pedindo a Joe Biden que não confiasse nas vãs promessas do homem que é inimigo dos povos indígenas, da democracia e da Amazônia.

Por favor, nos ajude a reunir assinaturas de brasileiros, americanos e de pessoas de todo o mundo que se preocupam com a situação em que se encontra a Amazônia, para pedir que Joe Biden não ceda aos pedidos de Bolsonaro e Ricardo Salles, não pague por promessas vãs deste governo, e não firme acordo até que ações reais sejam tomadas para reduzir o desmatamento, remover grileiros, madeireiros e garimpeiros ilegais de áreas protegidas, trazer povos indígenas e ambientalistas para a conversa e reestruturar os órgãos ambientais brasileiros.

Esse é um apoio a mobilizações que já estão sendo realizadas por outras organizações.

Conheça ainda algumas organizações na linha de frente dessa luta ambiental brasileira e suas ações:

- O Greenpeace Brasil financia por meio de doações pesquisas e fiscalizações na região da Amazônia

- WWF Brasil que possui 72 projetos envolvendo a preservação de vida marinha, reflorestamento de áreas desmatadas, fortalecimento da agricultura familiar, entre outros

- A Apib ( Articulação dos Povos Indígenas do Brasil ) luta por seu direito a vida e territórios que estão sendo ocupados por mineradores, grileiros e madeireiros. Proteger os povos indígenas é proteger os guardiões de nossa Amazônia

E para saber mais informações sobre políticas ambientais brasileiras e notícias, acesse: ClimaInfo e Observatório do Clima  

Essa petição foi realizada por jovens da Youth.ify e pelo blog Verdeante


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Full english version:

On April 22 and 23, a climate summit that brings 40 world leaders together will be held, by the President of the United States, Joe Biden. Among these leaders will be the Brazilian President, Jair Bolsonaro who aims to sign an agreement with the United States. The agreement was a project presented by Ricardo Sallas, the Brazilian minister of the environment, in one of the meetings that were being held behind closed doors by both governments.

The agreement states that the United States contribution to Brazil will go to Amazon preservation, maybe it should go to the Amazon Fund, if it hadn’t been paralised by the government. This fund donates financial resources from third parties and foreign countries to finance projects to prevent, monitor and combat deforestation, and to promote the conservation and sustainable use of the Legal Amazon.

However, since Bolsonaro has taken office, deforestation rates have only risen. The reality is that deforestation rates are the highest since 2012, and started to rise shortly after Bolsonaro took over the presidency. The government's goal of reducing deforestation is lower than the amount that has already been registered only under the current government."When Bolsonaro took office, deforestation was 7,500 km². He increased it by 48%, to 11,088 km². The 2016/2020 average is 8,700 km². In the agreement with Joe Biden, Bolsonaro promises to cut deforestation in half, but this means cutting that 11,088 km² in half, rather than the 7,500 km² rate.

Additionally, in 2020, when deforestation reached its peak, the Bolsonaro government blocked $2.9 billion from the Fund, thus favoring deforestation.

Along with all of this, Ricardo Salles wanted to use the Amazon Fund to compensate landowners within Amazonian conservation units (it means they occupied areas that should be preserved so they will have to give it back to the government to protection and preservation programs, and the money they would receive as a compensation shouldn't come from the Amazon Fund) this move was rejected by Germany, Norway, and other European and eco-friendly countries. In September 2020, Ricardo Salles mocked Joe Biden's speech about forming an international coalition to transfer US $20 billion for the preservation of the Amazon on twitter, saying: “One question, will Joe Biden’s financial aid of $20 billion be per year?”

With the kind of actions this government has taken in the past, we can’t at all be certain where the United States money will go.

Bolsonaro and Ricardo Salles seem to just want to make money off of an attempt to conserve the Amazon and fight climate change by the government of Joe Biden.

It is not possible to enter into agreements with a destructive government such as Bolsonaro's, which continues firing good leaders within government agencies for doing their jobs, like inspecting deforestation or other irregularities; a government who dismisses the superintendent of the Federal Police of Amazonas who denounced the Salles for siding with illegal loggers.

It is not possible to conclude agreements without hearing from indigenous peoples, environmentalists and researchers on the front lines of this battle. All of them point out how the Bolsonaro government will not be beneficial to the Amazon with or without investment from the United States, because it never demonstrated effective actions to stop this destruction, quite the contrary, it only encouraged it.

Two hundred Brazilian organizations have already sent a letter to Joe Biden asking him not to negotiate silently with Bolsonaro and Ricardo Salles, but to listen to public opinion, from environmentalists, activists and organizations that have long struggled to preserve the environment. Apib (Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil) also mobilized to organize a video asking Joe Biden not to trust the vain promises of the man who is the worst enemy of indigenous peoples, democracy and the Amazon.

Please help in gathering signatures of Brazilians, Americans, and people around the globe who are concerned about the situation that the Amazon is in, to ask that Joe Biden not yield to the requests of Bolsonaro and Ricardo Salles. Biden must not donate to a vague fund made up of false promises. He must not give money to the Brazilian government until real actions are taken to reduce deforestation, remove illegal miners and loggers from conservation areas, indigineous people and environmentalists have been brought into the conversation, and Brazilian environmental policies have been restructured.

Get to know some organizations at the forefront of this Brazilian environmental struggle and their actions:

- WWF Brasil which has 72 projects involving the preservation of marine life, reforestation of deforested areas, strengthening of family farming, among others.

- Greenpeace Brasil finances, through donations, research and inspections in the Amazon region.

- Apib (Articulation of Indigenous Peoples in Brazil) fights for its right to life and territories that are being occupied by miners, land grabbers and loggers. To protect indigenous peoples is to protect the guardians of our Amazon.

And to find out more information about Brazilian environmental policies and news, visit: ClimaInfo e Observatório do Clima  

This petition was realized by youth from Youth.ify and the blog Verdeante.


Petition by
Clara Bueno
São Paulo, Brazil
Sponsored by

To: Joe Biden
From: [Your Name]

Dear Mr. President Joe Biden,

I hope this message reaches you. We are here to talk about Jair Bolsonaro, Ricardo Salles and Amazon Forest. We are here to implore you to consider this letter and all of the others actions already done by environmentalists, before making your decision. Please.

Since Bolsonaro has taken office, deforestation rates have only risen. The reality is that deforestation rates are the highest since 2012, and started to rise shortly after Bolsonaro took over the presidency. The government's goal of reducing deforestation is lower than the amount that has already been registered only under the current government.When Bolsonaro took office, deforestation was 7,500 km². He increased it by 48%, to 11,088 km². The 2016/2020 average is 8,700 km². In the agreement his government is trying to achieve, Bolsonaro promises to cut deforestation in half, but this means cutting that 11,088 km² in half, rather than the 7,500 km² rate.

Here we will list only some of the issues our environment is facing while this man is in power:

· In 2019, maps with information on conservation areas were simply removed from the website;

· INPE (National Institute for Space Research) suffered interference in the disclosure of its data (always public before);

· CONAMA (National Council for the Environment) suffered an abrupt reduction, from 96 people to 25, thus excluding members of civil society and environmental organizations;

· Restriction of institutional communication, environmental agencies such as Ibama and ICMBio were prohibited from passing on information to the press;

· Transfer of the granting power of public forests to the Ministry of Agriculture (which is illegal);

· Normative lack of protection for the Atlantic Forest, enabling regularization of deforestation in areas of permanent protection;

· Extinction of the Secretariat for Climate and Forests (we have not had a project on climate change since 2019, apparently);

· Budget cuts: with IBAMA's budget being cut by 25% in 2019 and by 2021 this cut has become 32.5%, and for ICMBio it is 56%, practically extinguishing the agency;

· The expenditure on "Operation Green" carried out by the Brazilian Army in an attempt to "complement Ibama's inspection actions", spent over 14 million more just in 2 months than Ibama's annual budget;

· In 2019, 39% of the budget earmarked for the Ministry of the Environment was not used, and in 2020 a total of 0.4% was spent even with burning and deforestation rates on the rise;

· Amazon Fund has been suspended;

· Still in 2019, the country alone was responsible for one third (1/3) of the degradation of native forests in the world;

· And then came the Dismantling of Environmental Inspection: amid actions against deforestation and illegal miners, leaders responsible for these actions were simply exonerated from their positions without further explanation;

· Appointments of heads of environmental agencies: delay and absence of technical criteria (there are police officers assuming such positions);

· Environmental agency workers placed in risky situations in the countryside, thanks to the encouragement of violence and disrespect against their profession arising from President Jair Bolsonaro himself and the Minister of the Environment, Ricardo Salles;

· Additionally, in 2020, when deforestation reached its peak, the government blocked $2.9 billion from the Fund, thus favoring deforestation;

· Change in the carbon emission targets in the Paris Agreement: Brazil repeated the same target defined in 2016, but used old data generating erroneous calculations. Based on this calculation, Brazil will have a surplus emitted of 400 million tons of carbon by the end of the decade. For this reason, two organizations of young environmental activists filed a lawsuit against Ricardo Salles and the former Minister of Public Relations, Ernesto Araújo;

· On April 15, 2021, superintendent of the Federal Police of Amazonas was dismissed from his post, shortly after denouncing Ricardo Salles for his association with illegal loggers;

· On April 20, 2021, four hundred IBAMA inspectors denounced rules imposed by Ricardo Salles on the fines imposed by the agency, which paralyzed the inspection, making the fight against deforestation in the Amazon unfeasible.

Along with all of this, Ricardo Salles wanted to use the Amazon Fund to compensate landowners within Amazonian conservation units (it means they occupied areas that should be preserved so they will have to give it back to the government to protection and preservation programs, and the money they would receive as a compensation shouldn't come from the Amazon Fund) this move was rejected by Germany, Norway, and other European and eco-friendly countries. In September 2020, Salles mocked your speech about forming an international coalition to transfer US $20 billion for the preservation of the Amazon on twitter, saying: “One question, will Joe Biden’s financial aid of $20 billion be per year?”

With the kind of actions this government has taken in the past, we can’t at all be certain where the United States money will go.

Bolsonaro and Ricardo Salles seem to just want to make money off of an attempt to conserve the Amazon and fight climate change by the government of the United States.

Mr. President Biden is not possible to enter into agreements with a destructive government such as Bolsonaro's, which continues firing good leaders within government agencies for doing their jobs, like inspecting deforestation or other irregularities; a government who dismisses the superintendent of the Federal Police of Amazonas who denounced the Salles for siding with illegal loggers.

It is not possible to conclude agreements without hearing from indigenous peoples, environmentalists and researchers on the front lines of this battle. All of them point out how the Bolsonaro government will not be beneficial to the Amazon with or without investment from the United States, because it never demonstrated effective actions to stop this destruction, quite the contrary, it only encouraged it.

Two hundred Brazilian organizations have already sent a letter to you sir, asking not to negotiate silently with Bolsonaro and Ricardo Salles, but to listen to public opinion, from environmentalists, activists and organizations that have long struggled to preserve the environment. Apib (Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil) also mobilized to organize a video asking the United States' government not to trust the vain promises of the man who is the worst enemy of indigenous peoples, democracy and the Amazon.

Please, we are asking you not to yield to the requests of Bolsonaro and Ricardo Salles. Please, do not donate to a vague fund made up of false promises. Please, do not give money to the Brazilian government until real actions are taken to reduce deforestation, remove illegal miners and loggers from conservation areas, indigineous people and environmentalists have been brought into the conversation, and Brazilian environmental policies have been restructured.

We are imploring you not to trust this man or his government. We fear for Amazon because we are afraid of Bolsonaro.

Thank you for your attention.

Most respectfully,
From Brazil.

(This letter was written by the author of the Verdeante Blog and Youth.ify organization by young activists.)