Vale Mariana M, Berenguer Erika, Argollo de Menezes Marcio, Viveiros de Castro Ernesto B, Pugliese de Siqueira Ludmila, Portela Rita de Cássia Q
Ecology Department, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21941-902, Brazil.
National Institute of Science and Technology on Ecology, Evolution and Biodiversity Conservation, Goiania, GO 74690-900, Brazil.
Biol Conserv. 2021 Mar;255:108994. doi: 10.1016/j.biocon.2021.108994. Epub 2021 Feb 5.
This paper examines the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on environmental protection and legislation in Brazil. We evaluate major legislative actions, environmental fines and deforestation since January 2019. We show that 57 legislative acts aimed at weakening environmental protection in Brazil during the current administration, almost half of which in the seven-month period of the pandemic in Brazil, with September 2020 as the month with the most legislative acts (n = 16). These acts either deregulated or weakened current environmental legislation, with a number of them aimed at dismantling the main federal institutions in charge of environmental protection. We also found a 72% reduction in environmental fines during the pandemic, despite an increase in Amazonian deforestation during this period. We conclude that the current administration is taking advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to intensify a pattern of weakening environmental protection in Brazil. This has the potential to intensify ongoing loss of biodiversity, greenhouse gas emissions, and the likelihood of other zoonotic disease outbreaks, and inflict substantial harm to traditional and indigenous peoples. We highlight the key role of the scientific community, media and civil society, national and international levels, in order to reverse these harmful actions.
本文探讨了新冠疫情对巴西环境保护及立法的影响。我们评估了自2019年1月以来的主要立法行动、环境罚款及森林砍伐情况。我们发现，本届政府执政期间有57项旨在削弱巴西环境保护的立法行为，其中近一半发生在巴西疫情的七个月期间，2020年9月的立法行为数量最多（n = 16）。这些行为要么放松了现有环境立法，要么削弱了其力度，其中一些旨在解散负责环境保护的主要联邦机构。我们还发现，疫情期间环境罚款减少了72%，尽管在此期间亚马逊地区的森林砍伐有所增加。我们得出结论，本届政府正利用新冠疫情强化巴西环境保护削弱的模式。这有可能加剧生物多样性的持续丧失、温室气体排放以及其他人畜共患疾病爆发的可能性，并对传统和原住民造成重大伤害。我们强调科学界、媒体和民间社会在国家和国际层面发挥的关键作用，以扭转这些有害行为。
