Friday, August 23, 2019

BOYCOTT, SANCTIONS AND EMBARGOES AGAINST BRAZIL.

SOUTH AMERICA

23 AUGUST 2019

The world has the power to make Brazil’s Bolsonaro pay for his destruction of the Amazon

The best weapon against the far-right president is to hurt the Brazilian economy.

GETTY IMAGES

A firefighter works during a wildfire near Robore, Santa Cruz region, eastern Bolivia on August 22, 2019.

These have been horror-filled days for those who care about life on Earth. The devastating, record fires that the Amazon rainforest has suffered have pushed the forest ever closer to an irreversible tipping point.

Even among the invariably grim news about the climate crisis, there was something more profound about the devastation we witnessed. We have despaired and panicked, deprived of breath as though the black smoke could find us in our living rooms, choking us as it would soon choke our future. We have watched as our future burned, and we knew the name of the arsonist: Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.

Brazil has never seen itself as a villain on the world stage. On the contrary, there was a general bonhomie around the Brazilian image abroad. This hid a certain permanent darkness in country’s soul. Despite consistently paying lip service to collective action against climate change, Brazil has never had a perfect track record on environmental preservation. Even at its best, the country sought to maintain a dangerous balancing act between the interests of the powerful agribusiness lobby and green concerns. The election of the far-right Bolsonaro in 2018 exposed the dismissive attitude of the majority of Brazilians towards the Amazon and its indigenous people: this is a man who has never disguised his contempt for green activists, and takes an almost sadistic pleasure in mocking the concerns of scientists and celebrities.

This is the first essential truth when confronting the tragedy before us: Bolsonaro does not care about our anxieties. The only thing Bolsonaro cares about are those whom he sees as extensions of himself — that is to say, his family and his foot soldiers. That is the extent of his empathy; this is a man who scoffed at the brutal torture of a pregnant teenager. The only language Bolsonaro understands is power. Look at the photos of the fire engulfing the largest carbon sink in the world; look at what they represent. This is a threat to our right to exist. Start asking, then, how to fight back.

Fighting a foreign government thousands of miles away might appear an impossible task, but punching back is not only possible, it is actually much easier for the average person in a developed country such as the UK or the US. Brazilians are under Bolsonaro’s power and at risk of losing their jobs or being attacked by the president’s supporters. Donating to NGOs, which monitor the destruction of the Amazon and defend indigenous rights, is a start but that is merely a defensive ploy. We must strike back.

Bolsonaro believes that destroying the Amazon is profitable. Every Brazilian president is politically fragile before an opportunistic Congress, and Bolsonaro, in particular, has frequent scuffles with it. He is kept in power by the extravagantly wealthy: the people who believe his excesses are tolerable in return for pension reform and employment deregulation. Neither Congress nor the Brazilian elite, have any loyalty to Bolsonaro’s ideology; instead, like parasites, they simply use him as a vehicle to pass legislation and will discard him should he become too inconvenient.

The best weapon against a Bolsonaro administration is to hurt the Brazilian economy. Countries such as Norway have tried the gentler approach of financial incentives, which were rejected. It is now time to be aggressive. Boycott Brazilian products. Make association with Brazil an ugly stain for international companies, and demand they pull their business. Push your government to take an extremely hard line on Bolsonaro. If it is necessary to discuss the possibility of sanctions, so be it. The mere notion will shake people in important places to their core, and what they lack in morals, they exceed in cowardice when it comes to losing money.

If we believe in the immensity of the harm caused by climate change, if we believe that the images from Brazil are harbingers of doom, if we believe that the Brazilian government will kill not just us, but generations still unborn, then we would also do well to remember that we are not being murdered by a criminal mastermind, or by an unstoppable force.

The dark future we fear is not a certainty or a punishment from God. If this administration is anything, it is a low-level thug. Its president is a cowardly simulation of a man, who talks of torture and rape when dealing with those weaker than him, but who mutters and acquiesces the moment he meets any resistance. Bolsonaro has no human kindness or empathy, but he does have weaknesses: press those wounds and they will bleed. The time for our horror is long gone; now is the time for fury.

HOW TO HELP THE AMAZON RAIN FOREST AS BRAZIL'S WILDFIRES RAVAGE THE 'LUNGS OF THE EARTH'

BY ARISTOS GEORGIOU ON 8/22/19 AT 6:55 AM EDT

NEWSAMAZON RAINFORESTBRAZILENVIRONMENTDEFORESTATION

Fires raging across vast swathes of the Amazon have made international headlines this week, highlighting the plight of the world's largest tropical rain forest—which is under severe threat from human activities.

Data collected by Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (INPE) revealed that that the Brazilian Amazon has experienced a record number of fires this year.

The latest figures come as concern grows over the administration of President Jair Bolsonaro, which environmentalists have accused of encouraging deforestation and emboldening those who want to exploit the forest for commercial gain.

While there's not much you can do to stop the fires, there are several steps you can take to help reduce your impact on the Amazon, and indeed the rest of the word's rain forests, according to conservation non-profit Rainforest Action Network.

Cut down on the amount of paper and wood products that you buy

One of the main causes of deforestation in the Amazon is logging, which is driven by the high demand for wood-based products. Try reducing the amount of wood products that you purchase and make the most out of items that you have bought—for example, using both sides of a piece of paper.

Look out for alternative paper products which are made from non-tree-derived materials—such as hemp or waste straw—as well as paper with a high percentage of recycled materials. If you do want to purchase a wood product but you realize it has come from the Amazon, find out whether is has been sustainably harvested. If not, avoid it.

Reduce your fossil fuel consumption

Scientists think that climate change in conjunction with deforestation could create a series of feedback loops that will significantly increase the rate of forest loss in the Amazon, pushing it over a "tipping point" beyond which it will not be able to recover, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature.

Data from Brazil's National Space Research Institute suggests that as temperatures increase in the region, between 30 and 60 percent of the rain forest could turn into dry savanna, pushing the forest over this tipping point.

The burning of fossil fuels and the subsequent release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere is one of the primary drivers of climate change, scientists say. So wherever possible, try to cut down on your carbon emissions—for example take a bike to work instead of a car, choose green energy providers and switch off electrical appliances when you're not using them.

Lower your beef consumption

Cattle ranching is another main driver of deforestation in the Amazon, with farmers cutting down vast swathes of the forest to make room for their animals—a problem that is particularly noticeable in Brazil. In fact, the country is the largest exporter of beef on the planet.

While the United States banned the import of fresh beef from Brazil in 2017 due to food safety concerns, the country still took in around 8,000 tonnes of processed beef—in the form of products such as corned beef and jerky—the FT reported, citing figures from Brazil's beef export association. These products are not labelled with their country of origin when they enter the U.S. meaning it is best to avoid them if you want to reduce your impact on the Amazon.

Hold businesses accountable

Educate yourself about the business practices of companies that are commercially involved in the Amazon. If you believe that a business is operating in manner that is environmentally irresponsible, make yourself heard: Contact the company to express your concern, call them out on social media, or organize a boycott.

wealthfromhome

Direct action has the power to transform how companies do business. In 1999, Home Depot—the single largest retailer of lumber in the world—agreed to phase out sales of old growth wood, or in other words, wood that comes from areas of forest which have developed over a long period of time and have not experienced significant disturbances, such as logging or fire. The company's decision was largely the result of a campaign led by grassroots activists.

Support charities which are working to preserve the Amazon

There are several charities which are working to preserve the Amazon rain forest. Donating to these non-profit organizations may be one of the best ways to support conservation efforts. The following Amazon-focused charities have all received a rating of at least three out of four stars from Charity Navigator—a website which rates non-profits on their financial health, accountability and transparency.