As Bolsonaro Spews Greenwash And Bullshit, Greenpeace Counters With Shiny New Deforestation Evidence

[hatrack]

Hours after Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro painted a rosy picture of his administration’s environmental record during a United Nations speech, Greenpeace and other environmental groups released a set of photos showing continued deforestation and fires in Earth’s largest rainforest.

Speaking to the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro cited a 32 percent reduction in deforestation in the month of August relative to a year ago, the country’s near decade-old Forest Code, and lands set aside as Indigenous territories — which he’s fought to undermine and dismantle — as evidence of Brazil’s contributions toward mitigating climate change. “Which other country in the world has a policy of environmental protection like ours?” asked Bolsonaro, during his 12-minute speech, where he also acknowledged the country was facing “great environmental challenges.”


Aerial view of an area in the Amazon deforested for cattle ranching in Lábrea, Amazonas state on Sep 15, 2021. Photo © Victor Moriyama / Amazônia em Chamas (Amazon in Flames Alliance)


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Aerial view of an area in the Amazon deforested for cattle ranching in Lábrea, Amazonas state on Sep 15, 2021. Photo © Victor Moriyama / Amazônia em Chamas (Amazon in Flames Alliance)



Aerial view of an area in the Amazon deforested for cattle ranching in Lábrea, Amazonas state on Sep 15, 2021. Photo © Victor Moriyama / Amazônia em Chamas (Amazon in Flames Alliance)


But activists pushed back on Bolsonaro’s statement, noting rising deforestation in the Amazon and his administration’s rollback of environmental laws and law enforcement, and publishing dramatic images captured in two Amazon states between September 14 and 17. “While Bolsonaro was en route to New York, we flew over the Amazon to record the reality of the destruction of the largest tropical rainforest in the world: illegal deforestation and burning. The images don’t lie, but the same cannot be said of President Bolsonaro in his speech at the UN,” said Stela Herschmann, Climate Policy Specialist at the Climate Observatory, in a press release.


Aerial view of an area in the Amazon deforested for cattle ranching in Lábrea, Amazonas state on Sep 15, 2021. Photo © Victor Moriyama / Amazônia em Chamas (Amazon in Flames Alliance)



Deforested area for cassiterite and gold mining in Porto Velho, Jaci-Paraná district, Rondônia state. Mining-related deforestation has increased sharply under the Bolsonaro administration. Photo © Victor Moriyama / Amazônia em Chamas (Amazon in Flames Alliance)


EDIT

Bolsonaro’s reference to one month of deforestation data doesn’t reflect the trend of rising deforestation that he’s presided over since taking office in January 2019. According to data from both the Brazilian government and Imazon, an NGO that independently tracks forest destruction, deforestation is distinctly higher now than at any time under Brazil’s two previous presidents, Dilma Rousseff and Michel Temer. Looking at just the past 12 months, INPE’s preliminary data suggests a slight drop in deforestation relative to last year, when forest clearing in the Amazon topped 11,000 square kilometers, an area the size of Jamaica. But in contrast, Imazon’s data shows deforestation roaring ahead, well outpacing last year’s rate.





EDIT

https://news.mongabay.com/2021/09/countering-bolsonaros-un-speech-greenpeace-releases-amazon-deforestation-photos/

[Eugene]

1. Bolsonaro: Fact-checking claims by the Brazilian leader at UN

Source: BBC

Bolsonaro: Fact-checking claims by the Brazilian leader at UN

22 September 2021

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'In the Amazon, deforestation was reduced by 32% in August in comparison with August the previous year... 84% of the forest is intact'

Brazil's National Space Research Institute (INPE) says the rate of deforestation in August this year is down on the rate in August 2020.

But some NGOs which monitor deforestation, question these figures. Imazon, which operates its own monitoring system, says its data do not show the rate of increase slowing down this year.

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'Brazil is already an example in energy generation, with 83% coming from renewable sources'

We found the figure used by President Bolsonaro in data from the Ministry of Mines and Energy, published in January this year..

It refers to energy supplied to the country's electricity grid.

-snip-

But Brazil still relies to a significant extent on fossil fuels, and in 2019 nearly 40% of its total energy was from oil, with smaller amounts form natural gas and coal, according to the International Energy Agency.

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Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/58652461