A new roadmap for Brazil and the Amazon

Brazil’s new President – Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva – has promised to stop the deforestation and degradation of Brazilian natural biomes. He’s also committed to strengthen the government agencies tackling deforestation, and has created a Ministry of Indigenous Peoples to empower communities fighting to protect their forest and their territories.

The discussion focused on the challenges and opportunities of Brazil’s climate, nature and people agenda in the week of International Day of Forests.

We looked at how due diligence legislation in the EU and the UK might impact Brazil and the Amazon region. We also discussed the status of the COP26 commitments on advancing support for Indigenous peoples and local communities in Brazil, the potential UK donation to the Amazon Fund, and what is still needed in terms of engagement and responses of the financial sector to this problem.

Our expert panel of speakers included:

• Octavio Ferraz, co-director Transnational Law Institute at the King’s College London
• Helen Bellfield, Global Canopy’s Policy Director and the Deputy Director of Trase
• Adriana Ramos, Public Policies specialist at Instituto Socioambiental (ISA)

The discussion was moderated by Joana Setzer, researcher at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, and Cristiane Fontes, Global Canopy’s Brazil and Regional Partnerships Lead.

The Amazon rainforest is a vital part of Earth’s life-support system. It plays a critical role in regulating our climate and is home to an extraordinarily rich biodiversity, as well as ethnic and cultural diversity. It’s home to around 40 million people, of which more than two million are Indigenous peoples, including more than 350 ethnic groups. Protecting the forest is crucial for our planet, for biodiversity and for people’s lives.

Image credit (CC BY-NC 2.0): Oliver Kornblihtt / Mídia NINJA