Brazil Bringing Buckets Of Greenwash To Glasgow Summit; They'll Likely Get The Trump Treatment
Amazon forest defenders are urging delegates at Cop26 not to trust the “greenwashing” promises of Jair Bolsonaro’s government, which has wreaked havoc on the environment over the past three years. Brazil will field one of the biggest delegations at the UN climate talks in Glasgow and fund a lavish promotional pavilion inside the conference centre. According to the agriculture minister, Tereza Cristina Corrêa da Costa Dias, and the environment minister, Joaquim Alvaro Pereira Leite, the message is that Brazil is “a longtime champion of the environmental agenda and an agrifood powerhouse”.
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uely Vaz, a former head of the environment regulator Ibama who now works for the Climate Observatory, said the Brazilian government had gutted forest protection agencies and tried to change the law in favour of farmers and land grabbers. “Nowadays Brazil has an anti-environmental policy. They are paralysing everything. Deforestation and forest fires are out of control. This must change to ensure that climate money – which is important for our country – can be used in very detailed, specified way,” she said.
Carlos Rittl, a senior policy adviser at the Rainforest Foundation Norway, said Brazil should not get away with a makeover that aimed to shake its pariah reputation under Bolsonaro. “It will be the biggest team ever. They are spending a lot on communications. Agriculture and industry will be there and a big comms team trying to sell the world a different image. But the world needs to hold Brazil accountable to the truth. The satellites don’t lie.”
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The situation is reminiscent of the US under Trump, when the rest of the world largely ignored the official US delegation at Cop summits while giving prominent space and attention to a rival gatherings of state governors, city mayors, NGOs and others supporting more ambitious emissions cuts. The two very different sides of Brazil will be similarly present in Glasgow. While the official Brazilian pavilion will promote agriculture, a rival Brazil Climate Action hub will highlight the emissions-cutting efforts of Amazonian states, indigenous communities and civil society groups.
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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/01/do-not-trust-brazils-greenwashing-promises-say-amazon-activists