Dismantling environmental policy is a ‘disservice’, says Marina – 05/23/2023 – Environment

The Minister of the Environment, Marina Silva (Rede), said this Tuesday (23) that she will work with Congress to revert the changes in the Esplanada dos Ministries that, in practice, dehydrate the government’s environmental policy.

“Obviously, we are all working to maintain the competences of the Ministry of the Environment, of the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples”, he stated.

“Any attempt to dismantle the Brazilian national environmental system is a disservice to Brazilian society, to the Brazilian State. This can create very serious damage to economic, social and environmental interests. So, with all due respect to the National Congress, to the autonomy it has , we are going to debate, to convince, with the parliamentarians. This does not help Brazil, nor Brazilian agriculture”, he said.

How did you anticipate the Sheetparliamentarians linked to agriculture moved to dehydrate Lula’s (PT) environmental policy and resume Jair Bolsonaro’s (PL) organization chart.

The report by Deputy Isnaldo Bulhões (MDB-AL) for the provisional measure for the restructuring of the Esplanada provides for the withdrawal of the ANA (National Water Agency) and the CAR (Rural Environmental Registry) from the Environment, and the withdrawal of the demarcation of indigenous lands from the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples to the Ministry of Justice.

The changes take place in the midst of an arm wrestling match between Lula’s own ministers after Ibama vetoed oil exploration at the mouth of the Amazon River, with Marina’s support.

The minister’s pronouncement came after a meeting at the Civil House, with the presence of Ibama, Petrobras and the Ministry of Mines and Energy on the subject.

The report to change the structure of the Esplanade was presented this Tuesday (23) in a session of the joint commission that analyzes the MP (provisional measure).

There was a request for a collective view, and the text will be discussed and voted on again on Wednesday (24). There is pressure to speed up the consideration of the matter, since it will expire on the 1st and still needs to go through votes in the House and Senate.

According to the text, the Ministry of Cities, commanded by Jader Filho (MDB-PA), will be responsible for information systems that, according to Lula’s MP, were under Marina’s authority. They are: Sinisa (National Information System on Basic Sanitation), Sinir (National Information System on Solid Waste Management) and Singreh (National Water Resources Management System).

The management of the ANA (National Agency for Water and Basic Sanitation), today with the Environment, should pass to the Ministry of Integration and Regional Development, according to the proposal. The portfolio is headed by Waldez Góes, who, despite being from the PDT, was nominated by União Brasil parliamentarians.

Isnaldo’s report also transfers the CAR (Rural Environmental Registry), an instrument to control private lands and conflicts in preservation areas, from the ministry headed by Marina to the one for Management and Innovation in Public Services.

The instrument plays a central role in monitoring environmental crimes in rural properties, such as land grabbing and deforestation.

Parliamentarians linked to the ruralist agenda defended the transfer of the CAR to the Ministry of Agriculture —resuming the structure of the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government. The rapporteur denies having considered this hypothesis, despite amendments presented by parliamentarians in this regard.

Target of dispute between ruralists, Conab (Companhia Nacional de Abastecimento) should also have its competences dismembered.

Under the Bolsonaro government, the body was linked to the Agriculture portfolio, currently commanded by Carlos Fávaro (PSD). With the original MP, edited by Lula at the beginning of the government, it was transferred to Agrarian Development and Family Agriculture, headed by Paulo Teixeira (PT).

According to Sheet found out, the deputy did not remove Conab from Agrarian Development, but transferred part of its competences back to Agriculture.

The report should pass on to Fávaro’s portfolio the following functions: production and dissemination of information on agricultural and livestock systems and commercialization, supply, storage and guarantee of minimum prices.

In Teixeira’s purview, competences such as local food supply systems, public purchases of products and food from family farming should remain.

On another front, Isnaldo’s text should empty the attribution of the portfolio of Indigenous Peoples by transferring the demarcation of indigenous lands to the Ministry of Justice. With that, he partially responds to a request from the ruralist group, who wanted this responsibility outside the ministry headed by Sônia Guajajara (PSOL-SP).

According to the emedebist’s text, it will be up to the Indigenous Peoples portfolio to defend and manage the lands and territories that have already been demarcated.

A Sheet Isnaldo reiterated that he will not incorporate into his report the text of the MP that extinguishes Funasa (National Health Foundation) and transfers its attributions to the Ministries of Cities and Health. He included in the text a device that authorizes the extinction of the body, and that the government will have the final word on the matter.

The extinction of Funasa is a point that faces resistance among parliamentarians, since the body is coveted by political parties for carrying out sanitation works in small municipalities.

_{The Planeta em Transe project is supported by the Open Society Foundations.}