Brazil, Indonesia and DRC in talks to form ‘Opec of rainforests’

UngulateNerd92

UngulateNerd92

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Spurred by Lula’s election, the three countries, home to half of all tropical forests, will pledge stronger conservation efforts.


The big three tropical rainforest nations – Brazil, Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo – are in talks to form a strategic alliance to coordinate on their conservation, nicknamed an “Opec for rainforests”, the Guardian understands.

The election of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, known as Lula, has been followed by a flurry of activity to avoid the destruction of the Amazon, which scientists have warned is dangerously close to tipping point after years of deforestation under its far-right leader, Jair Bolsonaro.

During his first speech as president-elect, Lula pledged to fight for zero deforestation in the Amazon, while Colombia has proposed creating an Amazon bloc at Cop27, and Norway’s environment minister is moving to reinstate a billion-dollar fund to protect the rainforest after it was halted under Bolsonaro.

Brazil, Indonesia and DRC are home to 52% of the world’s remaining primary tropical forests, which are crucial to avoiding climate catastrophe, and the conservation talks are fulfilling a campaign promise by Lula.

https://amp-theguardian-com.cdn.amp...a-drc-cop27-conservation-opec-rainforests-aoe
 
UngulateNerd92 said:
Spurred by Lula’s election, the three countries, home to half of all tropical forests, will pledge stronger conservation efforts.


The big three tropical rainforest nations – Brazil, Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo – are in talks to form a strategic alliance to coordinate on their conservation, nicknamed an “Opec for rainforests”, the Guardian understands.

The election of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, known as Lula, has been followed by a flurry of activity to avoid the destruction of the Amazon, which scientists have warned is dangerously close to tipping point after years of deforestation under its far-right leader, Jair Bolsonaro.

During his first speech as president-elect, Lula pledged to fight for zero deforestation in the Amazon, while Colombia has proposed creating an Amazon bloc at Cop27, and Norway’s environment minister is moving to reinstate a billion-dollar fund to protect the rainforest after it was halted under Bolsonaro.

Brazil, Indonesia and DRC are home to 52% of the world’s remaining primary tropical forests, which are crucial to avoiding climate catastrophe, and the conservation talks are fulfilling a campaign promise by Lula.

https://amp-theguardian-com.cdn.amp...a-drc-cop27-conservation-opec-rainforests-aoe
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I didn't know anything about Brazil's new president, extremely happy to hear he hopes to stop Amazon deforestation!
 
birdsandbats said:
As long as it's a step up from Bolsonaro.
Click to expand...

Here is another relevant article.

Report offers a road map to restore the rule of law in the Brazilian Amazon
  • Brazilian president-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will have to supercharge many of the same policies that he employed in his first two terms to bring Amazon destruction rates down from their record highs, a new report says.
  • The report, by a group of development, security and conservation think tanks, lists 92 proposals for Lula when he takes office at the start of 2023, centered around ending the culture of criminal impunity that flourished under the outgoing president, Jair Bolsonaro.
  • Experts say the absence of law enforcement in the Amazon has strengthened a criminal ecosystem that profits from land grabbing, illegal logging, mining, and wildlife and drug trafficking.
  • The Bolsonaro administration has encouraged this in large part by weakening environmental enforcement agencies and putting loyalists in their top posts.
  • When Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva takes office at the start of 2023 as president of Brazil, his third term in the post, he faces the difficult task of making good on his promises to restore environmental protection and root out criminal elements from the Amazon. A new report, titled “Govern to not surrender,” offers a road map for how this can be achieved.
https://news-mongabay-com.cdn.amppr...-the-rule-of-law-in-the-brazilian-amazon/amp/
 
UngulateNerd92 said:
Oh, it would be a whole flight of stairs up from Jair Bolsonaro! Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a member of the left-leaning Workers Party, he was the president of Brazil from 2003 to 2010 and he has made a comeback.
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As you can see, Lula is definitely a step in the right direction for Brazilian environmental policy. A police unit to tackle environmental crimes would be an amazing asset to Brazil.

Lula wants new Brazil police unit to tackle environmental crimes

Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's incoming administration aims to create a new Federal Police unit focused on environmental crimes, the transition team's public security chief told Reuters.

Senator-elect Flavio Dino, widely seen as a leading candidate to be Lula's next justice minister, is running the transition team's task force addressing violent crime, limiting gun ownership and protecting the Amazon rainforest.

Lula wants new Brazil police unit to tackle environmental crimes
 
Here is another relevant article. I have been proud of
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva so far. Though I am not Brazilian, I am grateful to have him as one of our world leaders! I have the utmost appreciation and respect for Lula.

Here is another relevant article.

Lula wants to mirror Amazon’s lessons in all biomes, but challenges await
  • A new decree intends to protect all of Brazil’s biomes and promote sustainable development in arguably one of the country’s most ambitious environmental policies to date.
  • The mandate establishes action plans for the Amazon Rainforest, Cerrado savanna, Atlantic Forest, semi-arid Caatinga, Pampas grasslands and Pantanal wetlands, based on past strategies in the Amazon that have already proven successful against deforestation.
  • Environmentalists have welcomed the decree amid the country’s surging deforestation levels and rising greenhouse emissions during the past four years under Jair Bolsonaro’s rule.
  • The decree’s implementation won’t be easy, experts warn, and its success depends on coordinated action across all levels of the government, increased personnel in struggling environmental enforcement agencies and highly tailored plans for each biome.
Between 2004 and 2012, Brazil was able to slash deforestation by nearly 84% with a series of policies known as PPCDAm, a major instrument in reducing environmental destruction in the Amazon Rainforest.

Built on a three-pronged strategy centered on land-use planning, environmental monitoring and fostering sustainable production, PPCDAm created 44 million hectares (108.7 million acres) of Indigenous lands and 25 million hectares (61.8 million acres) of conservation units, and it also reinforced a crackdown on environmental crime, which led to the issue of more than 41,000 fines totaling $3.9 billion.

Thanks to these measures, deforestation rates in the Amazon fell from 27,772 square kilometers (10,723 square miles) in 2004 — the second-highest rate since monitoring began in 1988 — to 4,571 square kilometers (1,765 square miles) in 2012, the lowest level ever recorded. A study from the University of Brasília found that the implementation of PPCDAm saved a total of 196,000 km2 (75,676 mi2) of forest from being cleared between 2005 and 2015, an area equivalent to more than twice the size of Portugal.

Now, Brazil’s new president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and his environmental and climate change minister, Marina Silva, are applying the logic of PPCDAm to all local biomes — the Amazon rainforest, Cerrado savanna, Atlantic Forest, semi-arid Caatinga, Pampas grasslands and Pantanal wetlands — in a new decree that went into effect on Jan. 1.

https://news-mongabay-com.cdn.amppr...ssons-in-all-biomes-but-challenges-await/amp/
 
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Here is another somewhat relevant article.

Despite Lula's promises, deforestation still rampant in Brazil

Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon rainforest in the first quarter of 2023 was one of the worst on record, according to official figures released on Friday.

Those figures show the scale of the task facing leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, just 100 days into his return to power.

Satellite images from the INPE national space investigations institute showed 356 square kilometers of forest had been destroyed in March in the Brazilian Amazon.

That is a 14 percent increase compared to March 2022, when far-right president and climate change skeptic Jair Bolsonaro was serving his last year in office.

Despite Lula's promises, deforestation still rampant in Brazil
 
Here is another relevant article. I know it is from April

Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon falls 68% in April, first major drop under Lula

Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon rainforest fell 68% in April from the previous year, preliminary government data showed on Friday, a positive reading for President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as it represents the first major drop under his watch. Lula won last year's election pledging to end deforestation after years of surging destruction under his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro, but has faced continued challenges since taking office as environmental agency Ibama grapples with lack of staff.

Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon falls 68% in April, first major drop under Lula | Science-Environment
 
Here is another relevant article.

Brazil's President Lula recognises six new indigenous reserves

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has decreed six new indigenous reserves, banning mining and restricting commercial farming there.

The lands - including a vast area of Amazon rainforest - cover about 620,000 hectares (1.5m acres).

Indigenous leaders welcomed the move, but said more areas needed protection.

Lula, who took office in January, has pledged to reverse policies of his far-right predecessor Jair Bolsonaro, who promoted mining in indigenous lands.

https://www-bbc-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-65433284.amp
 
Here is another relevant article.

Amazon rainforest: Brazil's plan to end forest clearance by 2030

The Brazilian government has announced its plan to protect the Amazon rainforest and to end deforestation, or forest clearance, by 2030.

The country's left-wing president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, said looking after the environment was his priority when he came into power.

The forest will be monitored for criminal activity, such as chopping down trees without permission and selling them on for profit.

Lula, as he is known to people in Brazil, also says he wants to protect indigenous territories by reducing illegal mining, hunting and fishing in those areas.

https://www-bbc-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/65836536.amp
 
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