Giving Compass' Take:

• A group of NGOs has put together action steps for the European Union to end its role in the destructions of the Amazon rainforest. 

• How can funders work to ensure that these suggestions are followed? Can the U.S. and other countries follow this lead? 

• Learn how indigenous tribes can help preserve the Amazon rainforest.

In January 2019, deforestation in the Amazon reportedly rose by 54 percent compared to the same period in 2018. The same month, Bolsonaro’s provisional measure to put indigenous lands under the jurisdiction of the agriculture ministry paved the way for powerful cattle ranching and soy interests to accelerate their sweep through the world’s largest tropical forest, as well as Brazil’s other ecologically precious biomes. Their destruction has significant global ramifications, including acceleration of climate change.

The EU bears some measure of responsibility for this.

The EU and Brazil are deeply economically entwined. The EU is the second largest market for Brazil’s soy and a significant importer of Brazilian beef. These economic ties will be strengthened with the signing of the major free trade deal that the EU is negotiating with the Mercosur bloc, of which Brazil is the largest member.

But rather than continuing to disregard the significant environmental and social costs of its trade with Brazil, the EU must take immediate specific steps to end its complicity in this growing calamity, including the following:

  • The EU needs new laws to guarantee that neither products sold in the EU, nor the financial markets underpinning them, are destroying the planet’s forests and driving land grabs and other human rights abuses.
  • The Mercosur/EU negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement must be suspended until Brazil publicly renews its commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement. In addition, the trade deal’s Sustainability Impact Assessment must be publicly released and its findings taken into account before negotiations continue. Finally, the deal must include binding, enforceable provisions to end deforestation, respect customary tenure rights, and implement the Paris Climate Agreement.
  • The European Commission should specify how it plans to respond to the challenges presented by the Bolsonaro administration, including ensuring human rights are respected. The European External Action Service (EEAS) should strengthen the implementation of the EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy and include more proactive consultation with Brazilian civil society organizations. The EU should also monitor and respond to human rights violations and strengthen human rights defenders’ protection mechanisms. For those most at risk, including Indigenous Peoples and environmental defenders, the EU should provide direct, urgent support where required, including through political Indigenous land rights protest in Brazil, February 2019 representations.