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Brazil : Bolsonaro déclarés Amazon open to sugar Industry

Brazil is planning to increase its production of biofuel both for its own consumption and for export. Under a free-trade agreement negotiated in 2019, ethanol imports into the EU should be multiplied by sixteen. President Bolsonaro has now authorized the cultivation of sugar cane in the Amazon and Pantanal regions.

On November 5, 2019, president Bolsonaro cancelled a decree that had been in force since 2009 forbidding the cultivation of sugar cane in the Amazon and Pantanal, the world’s largest marshland.

For environmental organizations, scientists and members of the opposition, this decision was a disaster. In so doing, the government will give the go-ahead to further deforestation, forest fires, use of pesticides and territorial disputes. 

The sugar cane growers’ association of Brazil, UNICA, welcomed the decision as a cut in bureaucracy. 

Since Bolsonaro took office in January 2019, the rate of deforestation has increased by 30% in Brazil. Thousands of square kilometers of rainforest have gone up in smoke to benefit the development of agriculture.

In Brazil, sugarcane is cultivated for the sugar industry, particularly the production of biofuel. After the United States, Brazil is the world’s second largest producer of ethanol. This alcohol-based fuel is mixed with other fuels such as premium or E10.

Under the Paris climate accord, Brazil has planned to raise its production of ethanol from 30 to 54 billion liters by 2030, as reported by the Brazilian climate monitoring center. To achieve this, the area destined for the cultivation of sugarcane must be extended by 11 million hectares.

In Brazil most of the ethanol is used as biofuel. EU imports of ethanol from Brazil, however, should be multiplied by sixteen. For this purpose, The Mercosur countries have signed a free-trade agreement, which was negotiated in June 2019.

The European parliament and EU member states must still ratify the agreement.

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