Donors of Brazilian Amazon Fund Should Get Their Way

By Newsfeed/Reuters

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazil will make no changes to the governance of the billion-dollar Amazon Fund without consulting donors Norway and Germany, the president of the fund’s administrator, the Brazilian development bank BNDES, said on Friday.

The right-wing government of president Jair Bolsonaro said it plans to change the management of the US$1.28 (R$5) billion fund that was set up a decade ago to support efforts to reduce deforestation in the Amazon.

Environment minister Ricardo Salles, a climate change skeptic, last month criticized the fund’s management with allegations of irregularities in unspecified awards to non-governmental organizations; he suspended all operations pending a review, suggesting money was being wasted.

But BNDES President Joaquim Levy, a former finance minister, told reporters that the governance of the fund was quite clear and that work on new awards had not been halted.

Levy dismissed any risk of the fund closing down because of the controversy and said talks continue with Norway and Germany on possible changes. A new format for the fund’s steering committee that decides the awards would be agreed upon by July, he said.

The governments of Norway and Germany said they were satisfied with the administration of the fund and its success in supporting sustainability projects in the Amazon rainforest and helping Brazil’s institutions working to stop deforestation.

People familiar with the talks said unilateral changes to the fund by the government could lead the European nations to stop donations and even take back unused funds.

Environmental groups said the government was seeking to reduce the number of civil society representatives on the steering committee, including the removal of a seat for indigenous people. The also allege the government plans to use the fund to compensate farmers whose lands were expropriated in protected areas.

“Brazil has the highest rate of deforestation in the world, and most of it is illegal,” said Tasso Azevedo, head of MapBiomas, an alerts platform launched on Friday that is aimed at speeding up action against illegal loggers using high-resolution satellite images and automated data processing in partnership with Google Earth Engine.

(Source: Reuters)