There Has Been Wonderful News About Democracy and the Amazon.
As we noted in a News post earlier this month, at the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) meeting of nations with Amazonian rainforest in their borders, which took place in Belem, Brazil on August 8-9, 2023, Maria Da Silva of Brazil announced that in July 2023 there was 60% less deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest than in July 2022.
Now, independent observers not only agree, but say when all the data is in it may be as much as 70% less! The difference is that Lula Da Silva was elected president of Brazil in November 2022 and took over from Bolsanaro in January 2023, and as promised, made changes. As more information has come out, it is clear that most of the improvement has been in the last three months, with a trajectory, if sustained, that will lead to even more rainforest saved.
The turn-around required the cooperation of 15 Brazilian ministries, aided by satellite imaging so they could monitor illegal activity and respond in real time.
These efforts were aided by European regulations which demand more transparency regarding where imported goods come from, with documentation that the goods were obtained legally and sustainably. This needs to be a global, cooperative effort.
The document the ACTO conference produced, the Belem Declaration, had a lot to love in it about protections for the environment and for Indigenous peoples. There was a section promoting “One Health,” which is similar to Planetary Health in recognizing that humans are part of, and dependent on, the environment, and that the health of the natural world and human health go hand-in-hand.
The meeting wasn’t an unqualified success, however. One concern was that there was no final agreement on specific targets for decreasing deforestation, with some finger pointing between nations.
While the Brazillian efforts to decrease deforestation in the Amazon rainforest have been appropirately applauded, there are some criticisms of the ecological activities of Lula by environmentalists and others. The strongest is that Lula is not backing off oil exploration and drilling in the Amazon and other delicate ecosystems. President Petro of Columbia, who was at the ACTO meeting, has been particularly vocal about this.
Still, we have to celebrate Lula and others in Brazil decreasing deforestation by two-thirds! What a great start. This is critical to planetary health!
But there’s more great news from the people of South America! On August 20, 2023 elections in one of the ACTO nations, Ecuador, had fantastic results. These elections included a referendum about oil drilling in the Yasuni, a protected reserve in the Ecuadorian Amazon with some of the most biodiverse ecosystems in the world, as well as two “uncontacted” Indigenous groups and other people who are dependent on the Amazon forest and river.
From The Guardian article:
“The move will keep about 726m barrels of oil underground in the Yasuní national park, which is also home to the Tagaeri and Taromenane people, two of the world’s last ‘uncontacted’ Indigenous communities living in voluntary isolation.”
Ecuador is a “low-income” country whose credit rating has recently been lowered. Yet they chose protecting the environment and people over cash. The vote was unequivocal, a huge win, with almost 60% of the voting to protect the Yasuni park from oil drilling.
In fact, they also voted down a gold mine near the capital, Quito, by more than a two to one margin!
These are amazing efforts by low to middle income nations, Ecuador and Brazil, and others who participated in the ACTO conference.
It has been suggested that wealthy nations can help with some fair debt forgiveness. This is not unprecedented. The United States has traded almost two billion dollars in debt for environmental protection since 1990, and other wealthy nations over a billion dollars in the same period, with evidence that it did make a difference. The world needs more of that.
Elections mattered in Brazil and Ecuador. The people have voted to save the world. It has also been suggested that we do the same in the wealthier democracies when we vote!
The election of President Biden in the United States replaced an administration of climate deniers and gave us an administration that crafted and got through the Inflation Reduction Act, which, while imperfect, is clearly the most ambitious and impactful environmental legislation ever.
Vote like it matters. Support those trying to make change, whether elected or not.
Vote like your health and your life and the health and lives of those you care about depends on it, because they do.
For more on this, check out our “Your Planet, Your Health” podcast episode from August 2023: Rainforest Restitution.