Amazon Rainforest at Risk in Brazilian Election

The United Nations released a report on October 8 that described a high risk of climate crisis by 2040. Meanwhile, Brazil’s government continues to proceed with environmental policies in the Amazon that scientists have repeatedly decried and indigenous rights groups have protested.

The Amazon region of Brazil has experienced some of the most drastic deforestation in the world. In 2016, the rate of deforestation grew by 29 percent, which corresponded to a loss of forest the size of Yellowstone National Park. While the Amazon rainforest has typically been a useful counterbalance to the high levels of carbon dioxide produced by humans, wildfires and drought caused by climate change led to the region producing more carbon dioxide than it absorbed for first time ever in 2017.

The Brazilian government has routinely gutted the Ministry of the Environment, cutting the budget of the Ministry by 51 percent in 2017. Meanwhile, those charged with defending the environment from illegal hunters and loggers face drastic dangers. A quarter of those killed around the world for defending the environment in 2017 were based in Brazil.

Jair Bolsonaro, the far-right candidate who is likely to win the second round of Brazil’s presidential elections on October 28, advocates for policies that will directly harm the Amazon rainforest. He promised to dissolve the Ministry of the Environment and will remove fines for illegal deforestation and mining. The so-called beef caucus, a group of conservative politicians that advocate for pro-agribusiness policies, endorsed Bolsonaro in this election.  

Bolsonaro believes that indigenous land rights are a separatist plot to create independent states in the Amazon, although this claim is not supported by any evidence. He has promised to remove restrictions on mining indigenous lands, which have been an important protector of the rainforest as only 2 percent of Brazil’s deforestation takes place within the protected lands. This confirms several scientific studies demonstrating that the best way to defend forests is to empower those living there through legal protection and recognition.

While the majority of media focuses on Bolsonaro’s denigrating rhetoric against women, the LGBTQ community, and ethnic minorities, his proposed policies on the environment would be disastrous for the Amazon rainforest and the world climate at large, but have not received much attention outside of environmental circles.