Anaya Nolan
Since Jair Bolsonaro took office in January 2019, his administration has weakened environmental law enforcement, encouraged deforestation, and promoted the use of harmful pesticides. Bolsonaro's environmental policies have been described as authoritarian populist, dismantling institutional and legal environmental protection arrangements. This has resulted in an increase in forest fires, often sparked by people clearing land for agriculture, and a surge in deforestation and wildcat mining, with forest destroyers expanding their businesses. Bolsonaro's term ended in 2022, but he was up for reelection.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Neutralise and dismantle institutional and legal environmental protection arrangements | Dismantling the Ministry of the Environment and its autonomous government agencies |
| Weakening government bodies responsible for monitoring the environment and enforcing laws to protect the forest | IBAMA's funds slashed by 30% from 2019 to 2020, Chico Mendes Institute's budget reduced by 32.7% in the same period, 10% reduction in environment-related staff |
| Encouraging deforestation and criminal networks | 1,576 land conflicts registered in 2020, a new high since 1985, 1,500 new pesticides approved since Bolsonaro took office, many of which are dangerous to human health and the environment |
| Curtailing participation and delegitimising opposition | Accused NGOs of setting fires in the Amazon, described them as "cancers", Dismantling the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' climate change division, threatening to pull out of the Paris Agreement |
| Centralisation of environmental governance | Increase in PDLs designed to stymie the Executive's legal maneuvers vis-à-vis environmental protection, 195 infralegal acts published between March and May 2020, compared to 16 in 2019 |
| Lack of commitment to climate action | Brazil's 2021 climate action plan less ambitious than its 2016 plan, new forest conservation goals lack an operational plan for implementation |
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What You'll Learn
Dismantling institutions and centralising environmental governance
Since Bolsonaro came to power in 2019, his administration has sought to dismantle institutional and legal environmental protection arrangements. Bolsonaro's environmental policies have been informed by the interests of the extractivist sector, which has led to the weakening of government bodies responsible for monitoring the environment and enforcing laws to protect the forest. For instance, IBAMA, a crucial agency responsible for environmental policies, had its funds slashed by 30% from 2019 to 2020, while the budget for the Chico Mendes Institute for the Conservation of Biodiversity (ICMBio) was reduced by 32.7% during the same period.
Brazil has also witnessed a centralisation of environmental governance under Bolsonaro. This has been achieved through authoritarian and populist means, such as restricting participatory decision-making spaces like the National Environmental Council (Conama) and the National Council of the Legal Amazon (CNAL). Bolsonaro's administration has also attacked indigenous and traditional peoples, NGOs, scientists, and other environmental defenders, reducing their legitimacy, agency, and voices.
The Bolsonaro government has also been marked by a lack of engagement in global environmental governance, including threatening to pull out of the Paris Agreement, giving up hosting the 2019 COP25 Climate Conference, and degrading deforestation monitoring. These actions have tarnished the country's international image and brought uncertainty regarding Brazil's ability to fulfil its international commitments.
Furthermore, Bolsonaro's administration has intensified climate denialism, hindering oversight agencies and the enforcement of environmental regulations. Efforts to dismantle agreements between the federal government and NGOs, cut resources for community projects, and curtail the autonomy of environmental agencies have been observed. The removal of employees from their jobs in the environmental sector has further weakened environmental protection arrangements, allowing for increased destruction of the environment and violence against Indigenous Peoples.
The centralisation of environmental governance under Bolsonaro has been characterised by the dismantling of participatory institutions and a reduction in direct public participation in environmental and climate governance processes. This has hindered the ability of non-governmental actors to propose, monitor, and oversee environmental policies, limiting civil society's ability to regulate government policies and promote a climate denialist agenda.
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Curtailing participation and delegitimising opposition
Since taking office in January 2019, Bolsonaro has weakened environmental law enforcement, effectively encouraging criminal networks that drive deforestation and use threats and violence against forest defenders. The president described non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as "cancers" for the country and proclaimed that their voices, the voices of civil society, hold no meaning for him. In 2019, he accused NGOs of setting the fires in the Amazon themselves.
Bolsonaro's administration has been weakening government bodies responsible for monitoring the environment and enforcing laws to protect the forest. IBAMA, a crucial agency responsible for environmental policies in the country, had its funds slashed by 30% from 2019 to 2020, while the budget for the Chico Mendes Institute for the Conservation of Biodiversity (ICMBio) was reduced by 32.7% over the same period. In 2021, the Environment Department's overall budget was at its lowest level since 2010. The lack of resources, along with the removal of employees from their jobs, has allowed forest destroyers to expand their businesses. Without resources, environmental agencies don't have the bandwidth to track environmental crimes and act on them.
Between March and May 2020, the Bolsonaro government published 195 infralegal acts—ordinances, normative instructions, decrees, and other measures—which critics say are an indirect means of dismantling Brazil's environmental laws and bypassing Congress. During the same period in 2019, only 16 such acts were published. In April 2020, Environment Minister Ricardo Salles suggested that the administration "run the cattle", which experts say is a euphemism for utilizing the COVID-19 crisis as a means of distracting Brazilians from the administration's active undermining of the environmental rule of law.
In a cabinet meeting in April 2020, Salles recommended that the government use media attention on the COVID-19 pandemic to weaken environmental regulations. In the same month, Brazil's environment minister urged President Bolsonaro to "run the cattle", using the nation's focus on COVID-19 as a diversion to dismantle environmental rule of law; some new executive acts appear to do just that.
In addition, the government abolished more than 35 national councils of social participation. Attacks on people defending their territories or natural resources are on the rise in rural Brazil, resulting in increasing deaths of community leaders, peasants, and activists.
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Weakening environmental law enforcement
Since taking office in January 2019, the administration of President Jair Bolsonaro has weakened environmental law enforcement, effectively encouraging criminal networks that drive deforestation and use threats and violence against forest defenders. Deforestation rates in the Brazilian Amazon increased dramatically during Bolsonaro's first two years in office.
Bolsonaro has weakened government bodies responsible for monitoring the environment and enforcing laws to protect the forest. IBAMA, a crucial agency responsible for environmental policies in the country, had its funds slashed by 30% from 2019 to 2020, while the budget for the Chico Mendes Institute for the Conservation of Biodiversity (ICMBio) was reduced by 32.7% over the same period. In 2021, the Environment Department's overall budget was at its lowest level since 2010. The lack of resources, along with the removal of employees from their jobs, has allowed forest destroyers to expand their businesses.
Bolsonaro's administration has also been accused of dismantling environmental policies by changing non-statutory rules and cutting budgets. This has been done through a surge in executive acts, including ordinances, normative instructions, decrees, and other measures, which critics say are an indirect means of dismantling Brazil's environmental laws and bypassing Congress. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the government published 195 infralegal acts between March and May 2020, compared to just 16 such acts during the same period in 2019. These acts include amnesty for rural landowners who illegally deforested and occupied conserved areas in the Atlantic Forest, and indemnities for those who expropriated properties within federal conservation units.
In addition to weakening environmental law enforcement, Bolsonaro's administration has also targeted environmental activists and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Brazil was one of the most dangerous countries for environmental activists in 2021, with 20 registered killings. Bolsonaro has described NGOs as "cancers" for the country and proclaimed that their voices have no meaning for him.
While Bolsonaro has made recent pledges to curb deforestation and increase resources for environmental law enforcement, Brazil's climate commitments and policies still fall far short of what is needed to address the environmental and human rights crisis in the Amazon rainforest.
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Authoritarian populist policies
Since coming to power in January 2019, Jair Bolsonaro's administration has weakened environmental law enforcement, encouraged deforestation, and targeted environmental activists. Bolsonaro's environmental policies have been described as authoritarian populist, furthering Michel Temer's authoritarian measures through institutional and legal changes that restrict spaces for participatory decision-making.
One of the main ways Bolsonaro has changed environmental laws is by centralising environmental governance and dismantling institutions. This includes the organisational de-structuring of the Ministry of the Environment and its autonomous government agencies. Bolsonaro had originally promised to terminate the Ministry of the Environment (MMA) during his campaign but ultimately kept it in place, which allowed the government to maintain a semblance of legitimacy while taking apart Brazil's environmental protection policies.
Bolsonaro's administration has also weakened government bodies responsible for monitoring the environment and enforcing laws to protect forests. For example, IBAMA, the agency responsible for monitoring and fining breaches of Brazil's environmental law, had its funds slashed by 30% from 2019 to 2020, and Bolsonaro celebrated an 80% reduction in IBAMA fines on rural properties. The Chico Mendes Institute for the Conservation of Biodiversity (ICMBio) also experienced a 32.7% budget reduction during the same period. As a result, these agencies have struggled to track environmental crimes and act on them, leading to an increase in forest fires and deforestation.
Another way Bolsonaro's administration has changed environmental laws is by utilising executive acts to reinterpret environmental legislation and bypass Congress. Between March and May 2020, the government published 195 infralegal acts, including ordinances, normative instructions, decrees, and other measures, which critics say indirectly dismantle Brazil's environmental laws. These acts provided amnesty for rural landowners who illegally deforested and occupied conserved areas, further encouraging deforestation.
In addition to these measures, Bolsonaro's administration has also threatened to pull out of the Paris Agreement, given up hosting the 2019 COP25 Climate Conference, and degraded deforestation monitoring. These actions have tarnished Brazil's international image and brought uncertainty regarding its ability to fulfil international commitments. Despite some pledges to curb deforestation and increase resources for environmental law enforcement in 2021, Brazil's climate commitments and policies still fall short of addressing the environmental and human rights crisis in the Amazon rainforest.
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Targeting environmental activists
Since Bolsonaro came to power in January 2019, his administration has worked to dismantle institutional and legal environmental protection arrangements. Bolsonaro's environmental policies have been described as authoritarian populist, and have restricted spaces for participatory decision-making.
One way in which Bolsonaro has targeted environmental activists is through his rhetoric. Bolsonaro has described non-governmental organisations (NGOs) as "cancers" for the country, and has claimed that their voices, and the voices of civil society, hold no meaning for him. He has also labelled members of grassroots movements as "terrorists", generating concerns that Brazil's anti-terrorist law will be used to criminalise social activism.
Bolsonaro's government has also actively undermined the rule of environmental law. Between March and May 2020, the government published 195 infralegal acts, which critics say are an indirect means of dismantling Brazil's environmental laws and bypassing Congress. These acts include allowing amnesty for landowners who illegally deforested conserved areas, and paying indemnities to those who expropriated properties within federal conservation units.
Bolsonaro's administration has also been accused of weakening government bodies responsible for monitoring the environment and enforcing laws to protect the forest. For example, IBAMA, a crucial agency responsible for environmental policies in the country, had its funds slashed by 30% from 2019 to 2020, while the Chico Mendes Institute for the Conservation of Biodiversity (ICMBio) saw its budget reduced by 32.7% over the same period. The Environment Department's overall budget in 2021 was at its lowest level since 2010. This lack of resources, along with the removal of employees, has allowed forest destroyers to expand their businesses with little consequence.
The Bolsonaro administration has also withdrawn from global environmental governance, such as threatening to pull out of the Paris Agreement, giving up hosting the 2019 COP25 Climate Conference, and degrading deforestation monitoring. This has brought uncertainty to Brazil's capacity to fulfil its international commitments.
Finally, Bolsonaro's government has enabled violence against environmental activists. Loggers, miners, and land-grabbers have been invading protected Indigenous lands and engaging in conflicts, often with lethal consequences. Brazil was one of the most dangerous countries for environmental activists in 2021, with 20 registered killings. Attacks on people defending their territories or natural resources are on the rise, resulting in increasing deaths of community leaders, peasants, and activists.
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Frequently asked questions
Bolsonaro has weakened environmental law enforcement, encouraging criminal networks that drive deforestation and use threats and violence against forest defenders. He has also reduced fines for environmental crimes, leading to an explosion in deforestation rates, wildcat mining, and the invasion of public lands.
Bolsonaro has published a large number of infralegal acts, such as ordinances, normative instructions, and decrees, which critics say are an indirect means of dismantling Brazil's environmental laws and bypassing Congress. He has also threatened to pull out of the Paris Agreement, given up hosting the 2019 COP25 Climate Conference, and degraded deforestation monitoring.
Bolsonaro has weakened government bodies responsible for monitoring the environment and enforcing laws to protect forests, such as IBAMA and the Chico Mendes Institute for the Conservation of Biodiversity. He has also cut budgets and reduced staff for these institutions, hindering their ability to track and act on environmental crimes.
Bolsonaro's changes have led to a vast increase in forest fires, deforestation, and conflicts with Indigenous peoples. Brazil has also fallen short of its commitments to reducing deforestation in the Amazon, pushing the rainforest towards an irreversible tipping point.
