Jamil Chad Defeated, Bolsonaro government trying to undermine biodiversity deal 12/06/2022 17:07

Despite being defeated and leaving in less than a month, Jair Bolsonaro’s government is still trying to undermine the agreement negotiated during the UN Conference on Biodiversity COP15 in Montreal.

This week’s meeting is working towards the adoption of the Global Biodiversity Framework. But behind the scenes, the delegation sent by the Bolsonaro government is accused of working to block approval of certain terms and concepts, while recommending the inclusion of issues that, in the assessment of international observers, threaten to complicate the negotiation.

One of the most critical points refers to the goals for agriculture in the new Global Biodiversity Framework.

The original text proposed by the negotiating presidency requires governments to:

“…be sure [todas] agriculture, fishing, forestry, [e outros usos produtivos] managed sustainably, particularly through the sustainable use of biodiversity. [a longo prazo] [eficiência, produtividade e] Maintaining nature’s contribution to humans, including the resilience of these production systems, the conservation and restoration of biodiversity, and ecosystem services and functions”.

Parentheses in the text refer to parts that have not yet been decided and will need to be negotiated. However, an alternative has recently been presented by Europe, Norway, Egypt, Costa Rica and Peru, which suggests adding references to agroecology and small rural producers.

The alternative text recommends that states act to:

“…be sure [todas] agriculture, fishing, forestry [e outros usos produtivos] managed sustainably, especially through the sustainable use of biodiversity, [e sob princípios agro-ecológicos e práticas relevantes favoráveis à biodiversidade] [em particular pequenos agricultores, sistemas alimentares indígenas e mulheres] to contribute [o longo prazo] efficiency, productivity, and resilience of these systems, biodiversity conservation and restoration, and [contribuição da natureza para as pessoas, incluindo serviços e funções dos ecossistemas]????????

But Brazil’s position is different. According to the negotiators, Bolsonaro’s government resists the idea of ​​talking about agroecology and family farming, provided it remains anonymous. What is remarkable is that both terms were widely applied in Brazil 20 years ago and were later taken over by the FAO by José Graziano da Silva when the Brazilian side took over.

Such policies still exist officially in Brazil. However, they do not receive funding from the budget.

When contacted, Itamaraty did not give an answer about Brazil’s position. But in Montreal, negotiators point out that the Bolsonaro government’s blocking has a political character. The doubt is that this kind of language could support movements like the MST, which focus their actions on family farming and agroecology.

Another suspicion is that such a Brazilian stance is intended to stop any violations that may be opened in the future to create environmental barriers to national products. In this case, Brazil had Argentina’s support in resisting the original text.

While rejecting these terms, Brazil was careful to offer an alternative to the text, which has been interpreted by environmentalists as an attempt by the government to bring the issue of transgenics into the discussion. For activists, COP15 and the biodiversity agreement are not the place for such a proposal.

According to the Brazilian text, governments must:

“Substantially increase sustainable concentration through innovation, including expanding beneficial biotechnology applications for agricultural productivity and promoting the development of climate-resilient crops, phasing out trade-distorting agricultural subsidies, supporting the establishment of seed banks in developing countries.

Behind the scenes, activists criticize the government and warn that the delegation is “embarrassed” to manage a convention on biodiversity to focus on supporting transgenics to increase agricultural productivity.