Jair Bolsonaro ascended to the Brazilian presidency earlier this year, by winning on a campaign that adopted the tried and true tactics of Donald Trump but taking it that much further. Capitalising on the convergence of issues such as law and order, a terrible recession, and political corruption—high priority items on the agenda of the Brazilian electorate—Bolsonaro was able to sell a core message to an agitated and frustrated populace.
His populist views were what brought him to the international spotlight though—flagrantly attacking women, minority communities, the indigenous community, and the LGBTIQ+ community. Regularly making extreme remarks (which should never be repeated) about these demographics earned him the title of the most right-wing and divisive elected leader in the world, eclipsing even the likes of America’s Trump and Hungary’s Orban.
The most worrying policy for those keeping a closing eye on Brazilian politics and global environmental politics is Bolsonaro’s pursuit of resource extraction at the expense of the Amazon Rainforest and the 690 indigenous communities that call it home.
5.5 million km2 of lush, green forests, half of the worlds remaining rainforests, with an estimated 16,000 individual tree species, 2.5 million insect, 40,000 plant, 2200 fish, 2000 bird and mammal species. The biodiversity and the species density of the Amazon rainforest is unparalleled, home to 10% of the worlds flora and fauna.
Not only is the Amazon rainforest important for the species richness on our planet, it plays an important role in the carbon cycle of the plant. In any normal year, the rainforest absorbs roughly 2.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide—it is responsible for about 10% of the photosynthesis occurring on the planet and constitutes 10% of the worlds carbon sinks, where carbon dioxide is sequestered from the atmosphere. Which is why environmentalist and conservationists around the world have dubbed the Amazon as the ‘lungs of the world’.
Now, that’s a bunch of big numbers and percentages but it just begins to paint a picture of how integral the Amazon is in the operations of the natural world.
Brazil has claim over more than 60% of the Amazon rainforest, making it the de facto custodian of the ecosystem and the biodiversity within it. Brazil is, nevertheless, also recognised as the leader in deforestation, clearing approximately 6-8 thousand square kilometres of land every year to make way for mines, livestock grazing, and primarily soybean crops. While deforestation has declined significantly since the turn of the millennium, the trend has plateaued and there is still a substantial area being cleared every year.
Bolsonaro and his approach to the management of the rainforest are therefore worrying. Within days of being sworn in, the power to designate indigenous tribal land was transferred to the Ministry of Agriculture from Justice—a move where the possibility arises of land being designated and designations being removed on the basis of how the land is valued agriculturally. Currently, through the constitution, indigenous communities can do what they want with the territory they are designated. NGO’s who work with the indigenous Amazon peoples say that this polciy development under Bolsonaro’s first week could foreshadow the forced removal of tribes from their own land in the future as they are denied their home. This includes many uncontacted tribes who have continued their way of life without disturbances from modern society. Colonial history through the Americas, and here in Australia, shows that the forced removal of indigenous peoples destroys lives and closely-knitted communities—and if the indigenous activists worsts fears are realised then the same thing will happen in the Amazon.
This would only be the first step in opening up the Amazon to corporate interests and the profiteering of environmental destruction. After dismantling any legal hurdles, the clearing of land, deforestation and the burning of vegetation, could lead to disastrous consequences for the climate. Mass clearing and burning of forests damage the delicate balance of the carbon cycle which has had to deal with increased anthropogenic inputs for the last two centuries already.
Felled and burned trees release carbon dioxide that they had sequestered back into the atmosphere, with the Amazon holding 10% of the world’s sequestered carbon, any increase in logging would reduce the size of the carbon sink and upset the entire structure of the carbon cycle. Not only will the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increase, the amount exiting through photosynthesis and sequestration would reduce.
The Amazon rainforest is an integral component of Earths natural system, without which our current environment and climate would not exist as they do now. We are yet to see how far President Bolsonaro will take his destructive environmental policies but the fate of the Amazon is now in dangerous hands. Another sign of shifting attitudes in Brazil is the governments withdrawal from their hosting responsibilities of the 2019 UNFCCC conference—retreating from the world stage on climate change mitigation efforts. It is unknown just how committed Brazil will remain to its environment and climate pledges from the past.
There is no clearer example of how domestic politics can affect the global climate and environment, where the decisions of one people and one country can negatively affect the entire world, mankind, plant, or animal.
