Allow me, Your Excellency, to add my voice to that of millions of Brazilians who are alarmed by the dangers that threaten our species, arising from environmental degradation and global warming.
25 years ago, the topic took the form of global politics, when Brazil hosted the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Eco 92.
Since then, the sense of urgency has increased, as have proposed solutions. Brazil has played a central role in this process, including in the recent Paris Agreement. Brazilian protagonism is not accidental. The country has a unique environmental asset on the planet: its ecosystems and biodiversity. Furthermore, it is one of the largest food producers and possesses advanced agropastoral and forestry technologies.
Our vegetation cover is a shield not only from the effects of climate change, but also as a protection for water, fauna and cultural traditions.
At this moment, the skepticism of those who deny scientific evidence is accompanied by an increase in the irrationality and blindness of political decisions. Disparate voices organize a systematic attack on the nature that the country boasts, with proposals that favor deforestation, particularly in the Amazon. The importance of this biome in relation to biodiversity, the carbon cycle and the water cycle gives our people an immense responsibility for this vital asset for the region, the country and the world.
Mr President, do not let this wealth be destroyed by actions that seek to take short-term advantages to the detriment of future generations.
Therefore, I ask Your Excellency to use the constitutional prerogative of veto in relation to the illegitimate changes introduced by the National Congress in the following provisional measures: 1) MP 756 of 2016, which dramatically reduces areas of several national parks and 2) MP 758; of 2016, which reduces areas of fundamental importance in the Amazon Basin, such as the Tapajós Environmental Protection Area.
Other aggressions, such as MP 759 of 2016, which facilitates land grabbing and occupation of public lands, mean the end of concepts that Brazilian society has had such difficulty transforming into a public good.
Together, these measures subtract 1.1 million hectares from protection in the national territory. The negative impact of this action on our global commitments would be dramatic.
Finally, we are appalled by the return of violence in the countryside, an environmental setback accompanied by serious social consequences. Mr. President, preventing this ruin is within your power.
I am not alone in this claim. Last April, the Climate Observatory released a letter highlighting these problems. The Brazil Climate, Agriculture and Forests coalition has also sent Your Excellency an open letter requesting the non-ratification of MPs 756 and 758.
The demonstration that human development is a direct and immediate consequence of the protection of our forestry and environmental heritage comes from the fact that advances in conservation in Brazil have taken place in parallel with strong national economic growth, record harvests in agriculture and the generation of job.
Mr President, the world is watching us. Brazil is no longer the country of the future: it is the country of the present. Our nation has demonstrated its commitment to reconciling nature conservation with socioeconomic development, and has thus become an example for the world. There is no room for regression.
In the certainty that Your Excellency is sensitive to our arguments, I subscribe.
**Article originally published on Folha de S. Paulo, this Monday (12), and reproduced on this blog with permission from the author.
