Bolsonaro promises, in a letter to Biden, to curb illegal deforestation in Brazil by 2030

In a clear change of tone regarding the Brazilian socio-environmental crisis that was aggravated during his administration, President Jair Bolsonaro sent a letter to Joe Biden in which he states his “unequivocal support” for the USA President’s environmental agenda. In the document, Bolsonaro states his commitment to eliminate illegal deforestation in the country by 2030, in addition to being willing to act to curb climate change and work in cooperation with civil society and indigenous organizations.

The promise, however, as pointed out by environmentalist Márcio Astrini, executive secretary of the Climate Observatory, is not rooted in solid ground. In a social network post, Astrini commented on the government’s goals for Amazon deforestation, published in the Union’s Official Gazette on April 14th. According to the specialist, “the idea [in the government’s objective] is to reach 2022 with 17% more deforestation than existed before Bolsonaro’s administration.”