Brazilian Funding for Actions Against Global Warming is Reduced by a Massive 96 Percent

By Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL –  Funds to fight global warming are among the most impacted by the cut of resources made last week by the federal government – that also hit other areas, like education.

Of the R$11.8 (US$3) million that were supposed to be used this year by the National Policy on Climate Change to meet the commitments assumed by the Ministry of the Environment, R$11.3 million (96 percent) were cut, leaving only R$500,000.

In the face of these massive cuts, the departments under the command of Environment Minister Ricardo Salles do not know how they are going to keep working and making an impact.

The National Policy on Climate change (NPCC), for example, was instituted in 2009 by law 12.187, to guarantee that the economic and social development of the country would contribute, in parallel, with climate protection.

It is a commitment assumed by Brazil with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. That agreement provides, for example, for the reduction of greenhouse gas by between 36-39 percent by 2020.

The theme of global warming, however, has been seen as politically neglected by the Bolsonaro government. In January, the Minister of Foreign Relations, Ernesto Araújo, stated that climate change is a “Marxist plot”.

The Minister of the Environment himself, Ricardo Salles, classified the discussion on global warming as something “secondary”.