Minister Says Brazil Deserves to be Paid for Environmental Services to the World

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Environment Minister Ricardo Salles said in an interview with TV Brasil, that Brazil provides environmental services to the world and needs to receive payment for them.

Salles is in New York, where he will participate in the 74th General Assembly of the United Nations. He joins President Jair Bolsonaro, who will speak at the opening. The repercussion of the fires in the Amazon rainforest has placed the environmental issue at the center of the international debate.

“Brazil provides services to the world, the so-called PES, Payment for Environmental Services, we need to receive payment for environmental services as this is something that Brazil deserves,” he said.

National Policy for Payment for Environmental Services (PES)

PES can advance payment to the country with the approval of Bill 312/15, which creates the National Policy of Payment for Environmental Services (PNPSA) aimed at regulating the remuneration of producers, indigenous peoples, quilombolas, and traditional communities that conserve preservation areas.

The proposal has already been approved by the Chamber of Deputies at the beginning of the month and is now being considered by the Senate.

“The Brazilians who live there [in the Amazon] need to feel that the forest is really worth more standing, that it is important to preserve, that it brings economic benefit to the entire population,” the minister added.

At the United Nations, he said the government will defend its history of environmental preservation, which he calls excellent.

“Brazil has an excellent record of environmental preservation. Brazil is a country that has preserved 84 percent of its Amazon biome and has 60 percent of its native vegetation in its preserved biomes. We have a forest code that is an example of environmental occupation standards for the world. Brazil has a lot of positive things to show,” he emphasized.

Socio-economic inclusion

According to the Environment Minister, in recent decades, the country has neglected the socio-economic inclusion of the population living in the Amazon.

“Brazil, for 20 years, has left behind these Brazilians who live in the Amazon region, has not brought economic development to the region, has not distributed prosperity so that these people can grow, and in short, have alternatives for economic development,” he said.

The government’s priority, said the minister, will be precisely to incorporate the population that lives in the Amazon region into the process of economic development.

“The Amazon has some important projects; there are initiatives that have taken place over the years, but we understand that we need to do more, incorporate these people into the economic dynamism, give opportunities for them to produce, improve their lives, in short, improve sanitation rates, collection and disposal of waste. There are a series of indicators in the Amazon region that need to improve,” he said.

Source: Agência Brasil