Deforestation will guide round of resources to the Amazon Fund – 06/22/2023 – Panel SA

Norway’s ambassador to Brazil, Odd Magne Ruud, said, in an interview with Panel SA, that he sees the resumption of the environmental agenda with optimism and that, in the Amazon Fund, new resources are conditioned to the reduction of deforestation. Norway and Germany are the biggest donors.

“So far, what we’ve seen has been positive,” said the ambassador, referring to the most recent data.
In April, deforestation in the Amazon rainforest fell 68% compared to the previous year, according to data from INPE (National Institute for Space Research).

In the Jair Bolsonaro government, the fund was suspended after breach of contract by the government at the time. During his four years in office, deforestation increased by 60%.

Under Lula, policies to protect the environment and reduce deforestation were resumed.

“We were very happy with the reactivation of the fund, which today has around R$ 4 billion”, said Ruud. “It’s not a small amount, but we are waiting for the new deforestation figures [que balizam novos investimentos].”

The ambassador and the Minister of Climate and Environment of Norway, Espen Barth Eide, visited Ibama, together with the Minister of the Environment, Marina Silva, in March. He said he was pleased to see how the subject returned to the Brazilian government’s agenda.

“Satellite images always show from year to year. There are month to month [feitas pelo Deter]but we will have a complete X-ray now in August and we will know how it went [o desmatamento em relação ao ano passado].”

The diplomat said that the USA, the United Kingdom and the European Union have already announced more resources to the fund in the Lula government and that, from now on, it is necessary to wait for the procedures for the presentation of projects for the resources to be used.

“The fund is not from Norway, as many people think. We are the biggest donor and only observers. The person in charge of the guidelines is Cofa, a Brazilian committee formed by ten from the federal government, including the BNDES, nine state governments, and six representatives of society civil.”

The definition of new contributions depends on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the deceleration of deforestation.

On average, this calculation is done every four years. But nothing prevents donations to the fund before that if official data proves the reduction in deforestation.

Ruud said that, in Brazil, he defends an energy transition business agenda and the decarbonization of the economy through Norwegian companies.

He considers that Brazil is one of the main markets for what he calls “green exports” and intends to stimulate this market so that, by 2030, his country’s exports grow by 50% in line with this policy.

With Diego Felix

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