Eight countries in South America in which the Amazon Rainforest is located – including Brazil – have agreed a pledge to “combat deforestation” and address other environmental issues in the region.
Brazil, one of the four members of the Mercosur trading bloc – and the only Mercosur member in which the Amazon is located – has been accused in recent years of increasing deforestation to make way for new farmland as part of an effort to ramp up beef production.
However, a presidential election last year saw the then incumbent Jair Bolsonaro – who was seen as favouring this policy of expanding farmland through deforestation – voted out of office.
This political change has been associated with a change of attitude towards deforestation among Brazil’s leadership.
On Tuesday (August 8), Brazil and the seven other members of the Amazon Co-operation Treaty Organisation (ACTO) held a summit in the Brazilian city of Belem and signed the ‘Belem Declaration’.
The document “consolidates the consensus agenda of Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela for the region”.
It contains 113 objectives and principles relating to deforestation, water quality, biodiversity, social equality, and several other issues.
According to the document, ACTO is “the only intergovernmental coordination body of the eight Amazonian countries for the joint development of projects and actions that produce equitable and beneficial results for the Amazonian countries”.
Brazil beef and EU
Deforestation in Brazil has been used by farm organisations in the EU as an argument against the EU-Mercosur Trade Deal, with these groups pointing out the lack of consistency between the EU’s trade policy and the environmental standards it sets for its own farmers.
This apparent contradiction has also resulted in some political leaders being slow to throw their full weight behind the deal without having some guarantees that the Mercosur bloc would have to up its environmental game.
In late June, Ireland’s Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, repeated a call for “robust commitments” on sustainability in negotiations with the South American trading bloc, which comprises Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
“I fully support the [European Commission’s] ongoing efforts to secure strong sustainability commitments from Mercosur. The additional instrument on sustainability commitments needs to be substantial and robust,” he told his fellow agriculture ministers at the Council of the EU.
The “instrument” he referred to is a legal instrument which the commission has proposed to include as part of the trade negotiations to ensure Mercosur beef produce destined for the EU market reaches an adequate environmental standard.
Earlier in June, the commission indicated its desire to ratify the trade deal as soon as possible, with commission President Ursula von der Leyen outlining her intention to complete the free trade agreement by the end of this year.