No tod@s we are attentive. And being, would that be enough?
As simple as that, no. The attention is not enough to “acquicate” the distance between the law and practice: the history of the Amazon demonstrates this. The Brazilian management of the lung of the world shows how the lack of political will leads to a few principles of the National Constitution and International Treaties. In the first moment, after the second post-war period, there was only one article about the Amazon in the Constitution: what created a plan for economic development and what was given permanent character in 1966. The plan lets you see that, at the beginning, the legislation of Amazonas focused on the exploitation of its resources, leaving aside its conservation.
However, for more than the principle was only taken into account economic development, in 1978 the Amazon Cooperation Treaty was signed, where eight of the nine countries that share the Amazon sought a balance between environmental preservation and economic development. In addition, this commitment to sustainable development translates a decade later into the National Constitution of 1988, when it declares the right to a balanced environment and the responsibility of the rulers to ensure - although it is not mentioned directly to the Amazon in the Constitution.
But from dictation to fact. .
If we analyze the governments of the two candidates for the presidential ballotage of 2022, we can observe that, on the one hand, during the double mandate of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (2003-2010), the Brazilian Amazon lost more than 125,000 square kilometers of vegetation (Brazil National Space Research Institute). However, for more than in its first term, it was given one of the highest peaks of deforestation, which was reverting, and in its second term the rates decreased significantly.
In recent years, the statistics have made us concerned, mainly by the high numbers of deforestation during the government of Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022): according to the Research Institute, between 2018 and 2021 the rate of deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon exceeded the 40,000 square kilometers. Even in the course of this last year, more than 9,000 square kilometers of tropical forest have been lost.
The promised is debt. .
By winning the election victory, Lula da Silva inherits a highly polarized country, which will involve greater difficulty in making decisions and drawing the themes of the political agenda. Lula was re-elected after a campaign with a strong focus on the environment, which emerged in the campaign as one of the many themes that differentiated the platform of the two candidates. The most skinned ballotage in Brazil history leaves us with a new question.
How is it possible to apply environmental care policies and particularly, Amazon protection, in a polarized society and where social and economic problems proliferate? In addition, it is particularly difficult to implement environmental policies when the consequences of deforestation and destruction are not imaginary or urgent enough for the majority of the population. Instead, they are indigenous and tribal peoples who suffer more directly and manifest themselves stronger to preserve this ecosystem.
Thousands of people expressed a commitment to the climate situation, which Lula made one of the foundations of his campaign. The President, who was widely voted in the northeast, cannot repeat what happened in his first management. Time runs out. The Amazon is not infinite and suffers. Unfulfilled commitments and rulers who did not know, did not or did not really want to commit themselves. Can the president protect the most important rainforest in our region and the world?
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