European public roundly rejects Brazil trade deal unless Amazon protected
by Jenny Gonzales on 16 February 2021
The gigantic trade agreement between the European Union and the Mercosur South American bloc (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay), if ratified, would be the biggest trade deal in history, totaling US $19 trillion.
However, an extremely poor environmental record by the Mercosur nations, especially Brazil, has become a stumbling block to clinching the agreement. In new polling 75% of respondents in 12 European nations say the EU-Mercosur trade pact should not be ratified if Jair Bolsonaro’s Brazil doesn’t end Amazon deforestation.
France, the Parliaments of the Netherlands, Austria and Belgium’s Walloon region, have announced they will not endorse the trade pact. The ratification also finds resistance by Ireland and Luxembourg. Portugal’s government appears ready to move forward with ratification without environmental safeguards put in place.
UN report on agriculture-Article from the German magazine
“Der Spiegel”
To say it right from the start: an organic steak alone is not enough to save the world.
At least not if it is eaten daily.
According to a recent study, meat consumption is the world’s biggest destroyer of nature, and this includes organic meat. Only with more plant-based nutrition can the dramatic loss of biodiversity and ecologically sensitive habitats
Cattle breeding in South America Foto: Martin Harvey / Getty Images
The global meat industry and intensive agriculture have become the main drivers of this destruction of nature. The loss of habitats and biodiversity
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It seems like the second you tell people that you eat a plant-based diet, the first thing out of their mouth is some remark about soy or tofu. “Ugh, you actually like tofu?” “So, do you only eat soy now?” The commentary goes on and on. Sure, not everyone who eats plant-based loves tofu, but we would be lying if we didn’t admit that yes, we love tofu. So there.
To make matters worse, if you happen to mention that one of the reasons you eat primarily plant-based is because it’s more environmentally sustainable … brace yourself for the ever-dreaded, “well, soy production to make tofu is destroying the planet just as much as animal agriculture.”
For this report, it was extremely important to connect the causes of deforestation and the responses that have taken place in order to understand the dynamics of the problem on the fronts.
The main culprits for this phenomenon are the expansion of commercial agriculture (both small and large scale), tree planting and land speculation . Infrastructure and extractive activities such as mining also play an important role as drivers of deforestation and, over time, they become more important.
To combat the problem on these fronts, there have been responses from both state and private actors and institutions over the last few years. The report draws attention to the importance of Acknowledging the potential and limits across approaches and responses is critical, as well as the synergies that are needed for responses to be more effective to tackle deforestation and forest degradation while avoiding negative social impacts, and achieving more inclusive and equitable outcomes .
In just 14 years, the world has lost forest land more than twice the size of Karnataka
Satellite-based assessments by the World Wildlife Fund found 4.3 crore hectares of deforestation between 2004 and 2017. Representational image. | Nacho Doce / Reuters
Forest land amounting to 43 million hectares, more than twice the size of the state of Karnataka, was cleared across the tropics and subtropics between 2004 and 2017, largely for commercial agriculture, finds a new assessment published by the World Wildlife Fund.
Deforestation for palm oil production in Sumatra, Indonesia. Photo credit: Rhett A Butler/Mongabay
The report, titled
World Wildlife Fund identified these deforestation fronts based on the likelihood that these areas would experience high rates of forest loss between 2010 and 2030. These include nine forest areas in Latin America, eight in Africa, and seven in Asia and Oceania.