23 Nov 22
Quilombolas and Indigenous Peoples ask the EU for more protection; USA prepares sanctions against Brazilian deforesters
Quilombola [Afro-Brazilian traditional communities] and Indigenous organizations have asked the European Parliament that forest protection should be extended to all Brazilian biomes in the new European Union legislation that regulates imports. It would be possible to increase the level of protection for the Cerrado from 26% to 82%, for the Pantanal from 23% to 42% and for the Caatinga from 10% to 93%.
The National Coordination of Articulation of Rural Black and Quilombola Communities (CONAQ) and the Brazilian Indigenous Peoples Network (Apib) delivered a report demanding the inclusion of a ban on illegal deforestation for all Brazilian biomes as a prerogative for commodity purchases by European countries, in the proposal known as the Forest and Ecosystem-Risk Commodities (FERC) Import Bill, which may have its final text voted in the European Parliament soon.
Meanwhile, the United States should apply penalties to environmental criminals who contribute to the deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon. The initiative would represent a change in the US strategy to fight climate change with more severe actions, such as the application of sanctions based on the Magnitsky Act – which would freeze offenders’ assets and prevent all Americans and companies in the country from dealing with sanctioned individuals or entities.
The international sanctions are a direct consequence of the environmental policies of President Jair Bolsonaro, who has reversed environmental protection measures and pushed for more mining and commercial agriculture in the Amazon, resulting in the highest deforestation spike in Brazil in 15 years.
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