Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Friday signed a 24 percent cut in this year’s climate budget. On Thursday, Bolsonaro promised to spend more money to combat deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.
Bolsonaro made that commitment at a summit organized by US President Joe Biden. Brazil’s right-wing populist president said he would double the budget for climate law enforcement and that illegal deforestation in his country should end by 2030. The US government welcomed the promises, which marked a significant change in Bolsonaro’s tone.
Barely 24 hours later, Bolsonaro has signed the Brazilian government budget for 2021, with a budget of 2 billion reais (about 302 million euros) for the Ministry of Environment and the agencies under it. In 2020 that was a budget of 2.6 billion reais (about 392 million euros). In the course of the year, however, it may still be decided to deviate from the budget and possibly spend more money.
Bolsonaro has vetoed about 1.3 billion reais (198 million euros) in environmental and climate measures. Questions about this were forwarded to the Ministry of Economic Affairs. The Brazilian government did not respond to questions about Bolsonaro’s promise to release more money for environmental enforcement.
For MP Rodriga Agostinho, leader of a group of MPs fighting against climate change, Bolsonaro must put his money where his mouth is. “The signal from Thursday’s speech is not enough,” said Agostinho. “The Brazilian government has to do its homework.”
Deforestation and forest fires are on the rise under Bolsonaro
Brazil had already pledged to end illegal deforestation by 2030 by signing the Paris climate agreement in 2015. However, whether the country could deliver on that promise was seriously questioned after Bolsonaro took power in January 2019. He is an advocate of mining and agricultural exploitation in nature reserves and indigenous areas.
During Bolsonaro’s tenure, deforestation and the number of wildfires in the Amazon have only increased. Satellite data shows that between August 2019 and July 2020, deforestation increased by 9.5 percent from the previous 12 months, with deforested acreage as large as Jamaica. In 2019 he mentioned those images fabricated lies.
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