Amazonia

La bioeconomía no salvará al Amazonas

MundoAmérica

La selva amazónica, uno de los recursos naturales más vitales del mundo, desempeña un papel crucial a la hora de mantener la estabilidad climática y salvaguardar la biodiversidad. En tanto el calentamiento global y la deforestación empujan al Amazonas hacia un punto de inflexión catastrófico, el interrogante en la mente de todos es cómo preservarlo.

El consenso emergente parece ser que la mejor manera de proteger al Amazonas es desarrollar la “bioeconomía”. En los últimos años, esta idea ha sido respaldada por los conservacionistas y por diversas organizaciones, entre ellas el gobierno de Brasil, filantropías privadas como la Fundación Moore, donantes bilaterales como la Agencia de Estados Unidos para el Desarrollo Internacional, instituciones multilaterales como el Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo y organizaciones prominentes como el Foro Económico Mundial y el Instituto de Recursos Mundiales.…  Seguir leyendo »

La Tierra necesita una bioeconomía de la Amazonia

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El cambio climático y la pérdida de biodiversidad están llevando a los ecosistemas vitales del mundo al borde del colapso. Los científicos advierten que ya se han violado seis de nueve límites planetarios clave. Proteger y conservar las selvas tropicales es crucial, pero para hacerlo necesitamos inversión en estado de derecho y en nuevos modelos económicos que combinen reducciones significativas de las emisiones con alternativas viables para desmontar los bosques. En ninguna parte este desafío es más apremiante que en la Amazonia.

Con una extensión de más de ocho millones de kilómetros cuadrados, la Amazonia es hogar de la selva tropical más grande del mundo.…  Seguir leyendo »

Quito, 14 de agosto de 2023: la comunidad indígena Waorani se manifiesta a favor del referéndum para poner fin a la explotación petrolera en el parque nacional Yasuní. Martin Bernetti/AFP

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En un referéndum celebrado el domingo 20 de agosto, unos 13 millones de ecuatorianos decidieron que el país prescindiría de las ganancias económicas derivadas de la explotación del bloque 43, situado en gran parte en el Parque Natural Yasuní y responsable del 12 % de la producción nacional de petróleo del país.

La pérdida de ingresos fue el principal argumento esgrimido por el gobierno saliente. La petrolera nacional Petroecuador estimaba en 14 500 millones de euros las pérdidas que supondría detener el proyecto en veinte años.

Pero los ecologistas relativizaron las cifras esgrimidas, alegando que no tenían en cuenta la gran fluctuación de los precios del petróleo, los costes de producción y, sobre todo, los daños causados a los ecosistemas.…  Seguir leyendo »

‘We must strengthen our democracy if we are to protect our planet.’ Photograph: José Jácome/EPA

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Days ago, voters in Ecuador approved a total ban on oil drilling in protected land in the Amazon, a 2.5m-acre tract in the Yasuní national park that might be the world’s most important biodiversity hotspot. The area is a Unesco-designated biosphere reserve and home to two non-contacted Indigenous groups. This could be a major step forward for the entire global climate justice movement in ways that are not yet apparent.

This vote is important not only for Ecuador and for the Indigenous peoples in the Yasuní, who now have hope of living in peace in perpetuity. It is also a potential model for how we can use the democratic process around the world to help slow or even stop the expansion of fossil fuels to the benefit of billions of people.…  Seguir leyendo »

El presidente de Brasil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva posa junto al resto de líderes latinoamericanos durante la Cumbre Amazónica, el pasado martes en en Belém (Brasil). EFE/Antonio Lacerda

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La selva amazónica ha sido hace poco la protagonista de una de las historias más mediáticas del año. Cuatro niños sobrevivieron a la hostilidad del bosque húmedo tropical durante cuarenta días. El milagro de los niños sirve de recordatorio de las difíciles condiciones en las que viven los más de cincuenta millones de personas que habitan en los siete millones de kilómetros cuadrados de la cuenca del río Amazonas y los subyacentes.

Nueve paises comparten la soberanía sobre esta región vital para el equilibrio climático y ambiental de todo el planeta. Sin embargo, lo único que tienen en común en su relación con el Amazonas es el abandono y pobreza de las poblaciones situadas en esta zona.…  Seguir leyendo »

‘We are on the brink of a tipping point for the Amazon basin.’ Land burned and deforested by cattle farmers near Novo Progresso, Brazil. Photograph: André Penner/AP

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Some of the most fulfilling moments in my life as an actor are when I play roles that speak to the challenges facing humanity. In The Avengers, for example, in which I play the Hulk, the team tries to undo the “the snap” – an apocalyptic event brought about by the villain Thanos to eradicate half of all living beings.

As a good friend of mine says: “Fantasy is not an escape from our world, but an invitation to go deeper into it”. The simple fact is that humanity has triggered extinction events – and the collapse of the Amazon is a disaster that will be terrible for all of us in real life.…  Seguir leyendo »

A Yanomami woman and a baby in a rural area in the Amazonian state of Roraima, Brazil, on Feb. 1. (Raphael Alves/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)

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In late January, harrowing pictures from the Yanomami Indigenous reserve began popping up on Brazilian social media. Emaciated children with famine-bloated bellies stared at nothing. Adults reduced to wraiths languished in hammocks. Rescue choppers airlifted dire cases to critical care. The stricken were not victims of a natural disaster or deadly pathogen, but of an all-too-familiar Brazilian affliction: human plunder, waved on by the highest authorities.

It is encouraging that the new government has declared a health emergency and dispatched first responders to northern Roraima state, where Brazil meets Venezuela — the epicenter of the Amazon gold rush. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva visited a crowded Indigenous infirmary in Boa Vista, the state capital.…  Seguir leyendo »

An illegal charcoal production mine in the Amazon rainforest in Rondon do Pará, Brazil. Mario Tama/Getty Images

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What I’d heard of a little Brazilian town on the eastern edge of the Amazon had prepared me for the worst. Criminality plagues many areas of Brazil, and the government’s presence remains feeble in the interior of the country. But even by that measure, the pace of homicides in the region is staggering. “It’s a risky town for a reporter”, said Danicley de Aguiar, a Greenpeace activist.

I first went to the town, Rondon do Pará, in Pará state, in 2017, to understand why and when the jungle had become not only a front line of climate change but also to get to the root of the conflicts that have made the largest rainforest on earth the world’s most dangerous place for environmental and land activists.…  Seguir leyendo »

‘On Lula’s first day in office he signed an Amazon Fund measure, which allows foreign governments to help pay for preservation efforts.’ Photograph: Mauro Pimentel/AFP/Getty Images

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This week, as Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was preparing to be sworn in for an unprecedented third term, a key concern was whether the weather would allow him to wave to assembled supporters in Brasília from an open-top convertible, as is customary. It certainly marked a departure from the more serious concerns that had haunted the transfer of power between him and his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, in previous weeks.

Thousands of Bolsonaro followers, after all, had refused to accept the outcome of last year’s elections. Many camped outside military barracks urging the armed forces to intervene, committing serious acts of vandalism in the nation’s capital.…  Seguir leyendo »

Un árbol recién plantado en un proyecto de reforestación en Nova Mutum, en el estado de Mato Grosso, Brasil. Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters

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Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva tomó posesión como presidente de Brasil el domingo y, justo después de su juramentación, comenzó oficialmente la carrera para afrontar uno de los problemas más apremiantes del país: frenar la destrucción de la selva amazónica, que se encuentra más cerca que nunca del punto de no retorno del que llevan alertando los expertos desde hace años.

Proteger la selva tropical —una de las promesas de Lula durante la campaña— acaso sea el reto más importante de su tercer mandato como líder de Brasil. Será una tarea extremadamente compleja, y por ello Lula necesitará la ayuda de la comunidad internacional.…  Seguir leyendo »

A tree that is about to be planted as part of a reforestation project in Nova Mutum, Brazil. Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters

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When Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is sworn in as president of Brazil for an unprecedented third term on Sunday, one of his most pressing problems will be an Amazon at a dangerous tipping point.

Safeguarding Brazil’s rainforests, as Mr. Lula pledged to do in his campaign, may well be the defining issue of his presidency. But he will face an uphill battle. Mr. Lula will need the world’s help to rein in illegal loggers, miners and land grabbers. He will also have to build coalitions in a divided Congress and among rural elites who remain skeptical of Brazil’s environmental commitments.…  Seguir leyendo »

Helena Gualinga's indigenous Amazon community took the Ecuadorian government to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights following oil exploration activities. John Lamparski/Getty Images for Grounded

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This week, world leaders and diplomats are converging on the Egyptian resort town of Sharm El Sheikh for the 27th United Nations Climate Conference – better known as COP27.

Meanwhile, some 12,000 kilometers away from the sun-drenched beaches and high-level negotiations, another climate battle is already underway.

Among those attending COP27 is 20-year-old Helena Gualinga. She hails from a remote village in the Ecuadorian Amazon – home of the Kichwa Sarayaku community, who have been fighting for climate justice and indigenous land rights for decades.

And with historic results. In 2012, the Sarayaku community successfully took the Ecuadorian government to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, after it allowed oil exploration activities on their territory without their consent.…  Seguir leyendo »

A fire raging in the Amazon, Brazil, September 2019. Bruno Kelly / Reuters

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Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s triumph in the Brazilian presidential election marks a watershed moment in the global politics of climate change. Lula—as he is universally known—will replace outgoing president and climate change denier Jair Bolsonaro, who leaves a legacy of environmental destruction: deforestation in the Amazon increased by more than 50 percent during his four-year term. The Amazon, the world’s largest rainforest, mitigates global warming by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Scientists warn that human-made deforestation at the current rate will push the entire biome over a tipping point, after which forested land will become savanna. Losing such a major carbon sink will have devastating consequences for biodiversity and human well-being in Brazil and far beyond.…  Seguir leyendo »

Supporters of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of the Workers' Party (PT) celebrate after he was declared winner of the Brazilian presidential election on 30 October 2022 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Photo: Ricardo Moreira via Getty Images.

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The future of Brazil’s democracy as well as its environmental integrity was at stake in Brazil’s presidential election and, with the success of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, supporters of climate change action in Brazil and around the world can take a temporary sigh of relief.

During Jair Bolsonaro’s four years in power, the rate of deforestation increased by 72 per cent, after key government agencies were defunded and their ability to enforce environmental protection regulations were eroded.

This contrasts with the eight years of Lula’s presidency, where the rate of deforestation systematically decreased by 70 per cent between 2004-12 as command-and-control policies and regulations were implemented, such as the blacklisting of municipalities with the highest illegal deforestation rates so that producers in these areas were not able to access rural credits.…  Seguir leyendo »

Un incendio forestal en la región de la carretera Transamazónica, en el municipio de Lábrea, estado de Amazonas, Brasil, el 17 de septiembre de 2022. (AP Photo/Edmar Barros, File)

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En Brasil estaremos viviendo días angustiosos hasta este domingo 30 de octubre, cuando se celebren las elecciones de segunda vuelta que enfrentan al actual presidente, Jair Bolsonaro, con el exmandatario Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro ha sido un terrible presidente en cuanto a la protección de los derechos de los pueblos indígenas y del medio ambiente. En los cuatro años de su gobierno, hemos vivido momentos de horror con el aumento en los asesinatos de líderes defensores del territorio y de las invasiones de tierras indígenas, además de una casi nula aplicación de la ley contra quien invade nuestro territorio.…  Seguir leyendo »

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On Oct. 30, Brazilians go to the polls to elect their next president. But at stake is something far more important than just the leadership of one of the world’s largest economies.

Whoever wins will inherit control over more than half of the Amazon rainforest and, by extension, will determine the conditions for future life on Earth.

In the Opinion video above, Brazilian Indigenous leader Txai Suruí argues that this election is the last chance to save the Amazon.

Because of soaring deforestation rates under President Jair Bolsonaro, the Amazon ecosystem is on the brink of catastrophe. The loss of millions of trees has already caused decreased rainfall.…  Seguir leyendo »

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The world is going through a series of crises, and we in Brazil are not immune. Of all the threats we face, from pandemics to the war in Ukraine, from disruptive technologies to rising inequality, the most troubling are the erosion of democracy and the destruction of the environment. And in Brazil they are linked.

Supporters of President Jair Bolsonaro are growing in influence. They threaten democracy and promote a rampant increase in carbon emissions from deforestation and fires in the Amazon, as well as the destruction of biodiversity. According to data from a government research unit, deforestation in the Amazon in 2021 was 73% higher than in 2018—the year before Mr Bolsonaro took office.…  Seguir leyendo »

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La Amazonía brasileña ha aparecido recientemente en las noticias internacionales por malas razones: un crecimiento récord en la deforestación; el contrabando ilegal de madera, pescado y drogas; y el asesinato de indígenas y ambientalistas, los últimos bastiones contra los avances criminales de mafias que quieren robar las riquezas de la región o ampliar las fronteras de sus negocios.

Estas organizaciones criminales sin escrúpulos, a menudo aliadas con las autoridades locales, están detrás también de los asesinatos, a principios de junio, del indigenista brasileño Bruno Pereira y el periodista británico Dom Phillips.

Los crímenes en la zona, en especial los homicidios con repercusión internacional, deberían haber impactado de forma negativa en la candidatura del presidente Jair Bolsonaro, quien busca la reelección en los comicios del 2 octubre.…  Seguir leyendo »

A child holds a flower during a protest in Brasilia on June 19 to demand justice for journalist Dom Phillips and indigenous expert Bruno Pereira, who were killed in the Amazon. (Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters)

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As Brazil and much of the world looked on in the anguishing search for indigenous rights advocate Bruno Pereira and British journalist Dom Phillips, who went missing earlier this month in a violent stretch of northwest Amazon, images of the first suspect emerged in the media. Sinewy, whiskered, with a sun-leathered complexion, Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira — a local fisherman who police say confessed to the crime and identified the location of the remains — didn’t look much like a crime boss. Nor did his younger brother Oseney, another alleged accomplice apprehended by federal police days later (he denies involvement).…  Seguir leyendo »

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Los brasileños conocen muy bien las noticias falsas. Los charlatanes en redes sociales han atacado la integridad del sistema de votación electrónica de Brasil, han acusado sin bases a la oposición política de “enseñar” homosexualidad en las aulas de clase y han promovido tratamientos para el COVID-19 basados en la fe, todo con el apoyo y el guiño del palacio presidencial. Ahora, las turbas de las redes sociales, con la bendición del “Gabinete del odio” de Brasil, están troleando la selva tropical más grande del mundo.

Una nuevo cruce de la frontera de la posverdad está generando preocupaciones en todas partes.…  Seguir leyendo »