Boris Johnson cannot miss 'once in a lifetime' opportunity to protect Amazon

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Source: CAFOD

The UK government must not stand idly by as major changes to legalise Amazon deforestation passes through Brazilian Congress, faith leaders and charities have warned.

Ahead of today's (12 July) discussion on the UK's Environment Bill in the House of Lords, the group are urging UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, to strengthen due diligence requirements - ensuring that UK businesses and financial organisations aren't complicit in the destruction of the Amazon rainforest.

The prominent network, REPAM Brazil, which represent church-based organisations and Catholic dioceses across the Brazilian Amazon, has joined UK Catholic charity CAFOD's call to stop vast changes to land laws, proposed by the Brazilian government, that would legalise currently illegal deforestation practices.

According to the network, these reforms would grant amnesty to land grabbers, reduce the protection of indigenous lands - and ultimately generate deforestation totalling 16 million hectares by 2027.

"Despite deforestation already reaching critical levels, the Brazilian Congress is going to be voting on draft bills that, if passed, will only increase the destruction of the Amazon rainforest," said Cecilia Iorio, Brazil representative for charity CAFOD. "These bills show the direction that the Brazilian government is taking - putting profits ahead of indigenous people rights and the planet."

Brazilian Bishops, who have previously been outspoken about the treatment of the Amazon, have actively campaigned against the bills for months.

In a recent letter from REPAM Brazil, who represent many Catholic Dioceses throughout the Brazilian Amazon, they stated their "outrage" at the proposals.

"If these bills are passed, neither these indigenous communities nor the Amazon rainforest will exist within the next decade," wrote the President of REPAM Brazil, Bishop Erwin Kräutler.

Although there are already plans in the UK's Environment Bill for a due diligence requirement for deforestation risk-commodities, the law only requires companies to comply with local laws. So, without strengthening UK policy, critics argue, it threatens to act as an endorsement of these detrimental legal reforms.

Pressure on the UK government and on MPs around the country to approve a robust Environmental Bill is mounting ahead of the UK hosting the UN Climate talks, COP26, in Glasgow later this year.

"The UK hosting COP26 this year is an opportunity to show its leadership in defending indigenous rights, and to support those fighting against deforestation and climate change," Bishop Kräutler continued.

With charity CAFOD adding that there is no time to delay global action, "when the UK hosts COP26 this November, we'll quickly see where Boris Johnson's priorities lie," concluded Iorio.

Find out more about CAFOD's work in Brazil at: https://cafod.org.uk/News/International-news/Coronavirus-in-Brazil