Brazil announces fire ban
BRASILIA: Brazil’s government announced yesterday it planned to ban setting fires in the Amazon for 120 days, in a meeting with global investors to address their rising concerns over destruction of the rainforest.
The decree banning fires, set to be issued next week, repeats a similar temporary ban instituted last year when forest fires surged, provoking outcry that Brazil was not doing enough to protect the world’s largest rainforest.
Brazil’s government, led by Vicepresident Hamilton Mourao, had arranged yesterday’s videoconference in response to a letter sent by 29 global firms demanding the Government stop environmental destruction that has surged since rightwing President Jair Bolsonaro took office last year.
Some firms are putting new investments in Brazil on hold or threatening to divest if Bolsonaro’s government does not act.
‘‘We really appreciate the dialogue but we hope it will contribute to concrete results on the ground,’’ said Jeanett Bergan, head of responsible investment at KLP, Norway’s largest pension fund, said.
One important measure of progress would be whether there was an improvement in deforestation and forest fire statistics, he said.
Deforestation has risen 34% in the first five months of 2020, compared to a year ago, after hitting an 11year high in 2019, according to government statistics.
Following last year’s ban and deployment of the military to fight forest fires, Amazon blazes declined in September and October, compared to those months the year before. Bolsonaro sent the military again starting in May this year.
Researchers said there were worrying signs for a flare up in fires again this year in the peak season for blazes from August to the end of November. Government data showed last week the number of fires rose 20% in June to a 13yearhigh. — Reuters