Dilma og miljø: verst siden diktaturet

Brasils miljøbevegelse feller en knusende dom over Dilma Rouseffs styre: "Det største tilbakeslaget for miljø- og rettighetsagendaen siden slutten av militærdiktaturet".

Fra pressekonferansen der miljøbevgelsens vurdering av Dilma Rouseffs miljøpolitikk ble presentert: Paulo Barreto (Imazon), João Paulo Capobianco (IDS), Maria Cecilia Wey de Brito (WWF) og Marcio Santilli (ISA)

Intrykket de fleste har av miljøsaken i Brasil er at det går riktig så bra. Avskogingen i Amazonas er rekordlav, utslippene av klimagasser går ned. Det er helt riktig, men de siste årene beskrives likevel best som en historisk miljøbacklash i Brasil. Det er årsaken til at Brasils ledende miljøorganisasjoner nå går ut med knallhard kritikk av president Dilma Rouseffs miljøpolitikk.

Jeg var på pressekonferansen, og kan ikke huske å ha hørt så sterke ord brukt mot noen tidligere regjering. Det som skjer i Brasil kaller jeg, inspirert av Star Wars, "The Empire Strikes Back". Etter to tiår med stadig bedre miljølovverk og miljøpolitikk, slår eliten, godseierlobbyen og indistrijordbruket, nå tilbake.

Jeg anbefaler alle å lese Brasils miljøbevegelses vurdering av Dilmas miljøpolitikk (her på engelsk, drøye fire sider, klikk på linken "learn more" for å laste ned pdf).

Det kommer til å bli hett fram mot den store miljø- og utviklingskonferansen Rio+20 i juni!

Her er en rask google-oversetting, pluss litt flikking, av den portugisiske originalen:

SETBACKS OF THE SOCIO-ENVIRONMENTAL AGENDA IN DILMA´S GOVERNMENT

March 6th 2012

The first year of President Rousseff´s government was marked by the greatest setbacks of socio-environmental agenda since the end of military dictatorship, reversing a trend of improvement of the sustainable development agenda that was being implemented throughout all governments since 1988, whose apex was the fall of the rate of deforestation in Amazonia in the Lula government. Accumulated advances in the last two decades allowed Brazil to be the first developing country to submit emission reduction targets for carbon and contributed decisively to put us in a leading position in international social and environmental arena.

Unlike the announcement that the president deepened good social policies of the previous government, in the social and environmental area, contrary to the historical process, there is a complete discontinuity. The flexibilization of legislation, the negotiation for approval of a Forest Code unworthy of the name and the regulation of Article 23 of the Constitution, through the Supplementary Law 140, recently approved, are the most serious cases. The list of setbacks also includes disruption of processes of creation of conservation units since the inauguration of the current administration, even the unprecedented reduction of several of these conservation areas in the Amazon through the Provisional Measure, contradicting the current legislation and Brazil´s international commitments. There is also the freezing of processes of recognition of indigenous and quilombola (maroon) territories, while public bodies accelerate the licensing of projects with clear environmental and social problems.

This process contrasts with promises made by President Dilma in the 2010 presidential election campaign, as to refuse articles of the Code that would require a reduction of Forest Permanent Protection Areas and Legal Reserves and articles that resulted in amnesty for illegal loggers. All these points were included in the proposal that will go to a vote in Congress in the coming days, with support from the government's base.

"Brazil is experiencing an unprecedented setback in the social and environmental area"

The attacks on the socio-environmental achievements open space for other projects to change the legislation, already in discussion in Congress. Examples are the proposed constitutional amendment aimed at interfering with the creation of new protected areas and recognition of indigenous territories, the bill that weakens the Law of Mata Atlantica, the numerous projects to reduce the already created protected areas, the proposed Legislative Decree to enable planting of sugarcane in the Amazon and the Pantanal and the discussion of mining in indigenous areas.

Civil society organizations - that support non-destructive development and are concerned with preserving the social and environmental balance in the country - have signed this document, alerting public opinion to the fact that Brazil is experiencing an unprecedented setback in the social and environmental area, which negatively affects the country´s ability to continue advancing in the direction of sustainable development and seriously threatens the quality of life for present and future populations.