Question

Brazil's environmental record is a real paradox. On the one hand it resembles so many other countries desperately trying to get ahead economically - even at the expense of its environment. On the other hand, Brazil is showing the world how to reduce fossil fuel use with associated benefits (mostly) of using sustainable biofuels.

What do you make of this seemingly contradictory record on the environment and which path do you think Brazil is more likely to take in the future ... and why?

Answer 1

The seemingly paradoxical environmental record of Brazil is actually a pretty straight forward by-product of it's socio-economic policies for the last couple of decades. The geo-political scenario of Brazil with USA and other neighboring countries of Latin Americas with control and effective conservation of the Amazon rain forest has got to do a lot about this. From early 2000s Brazil was the leading producer of biofuel ethanol until USA overtook them in 2006. Brazil still produces 27 - 30% of worlds' total biofuel production. Along with these , the Brazilian government has also promoted solar energy and wind energy over fossil fuels. They have created huge development with larger and successful hydro-power projects. Their main pro-environment move was check deforestation in the Amazon rain forest area. They vowed to cut that rate by 30%, and now reports show that they have failed miserably and 80% of the recent deforestation in the rain forest was done by Brazil. Increasing sugar plantations, cattle farms and soya production are the main culprits behind such abhorrent environment policies taken up by the Brazilian government. They even thought to pull out of the Paris accord but had to give in due to huge worldwide backlash. Corruption and lobbying anc canvassing among the government and the rich ruralists keep pushing Brazil into a detrimental path they are not supposed to go into. They should own up their mistakes and follow through the Greenpeace and UN recommendations, disregarding private interests. While Brazil could show the World about the advantages of a sustainable energy options over fossil fuels, they must clean up thier existing environmental policies.