Marina calls the emptying of the ministry a ‘retrogression’ – 05/06/2023 – Environment

The Minister of the Environment, Marina Silva, classified the decision of the National Congress that emptied the folder under her responsibility as a “retrogression”.

In an event alongside President Lula (PT), Marina stated that the changes approved by the Legislature go “against what it means to have robust environmental legislation”.

The government’s political articulation did not establish the strengthening of the ministry as one of the Executive’s priorities in negotiations with Congress for the approval of the provisional measure that defined the structure of the government.

The minister recalled that Lula had placed CAR (Rural Environmental Registry) and ANA (National Water Agency) under the management of the Ministry of the Environment, but the decision was reversed by parliament.

“Unfortunately, in a recent decision by Congress, we had a setback and reversal of this decision. It is a decision that is not in line with what is the strengthening of the national environmental system, which we accept because in democracy we accept legitimate decisions of Congress , but I cannot agree,” he said.

And he continued: “I cannot agree because they go against the grain of what it means to have robust environmental legislation and [que] ensure that the Ministry of the Environment can fulfill its attributions conferred on it in the Constitution and in all the laws that ensured the creation of the national environment system”, he said.

The speeches took place during a ceremony for World Environment Day, at the Planalto Palace. During the event, the government announced the final text of the new PPCDAm —Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Legal Amazon—, one of the most awaited axes of the environmental policy.

The decision comes after a series of defeats by the environmental team.

The main one was the approval in the National Congress of the provisional measure that restructured the Esplanada dos Ministérios. The approved text dehydrated the portfolio commanded by Marina and also that of Sônia Guajajara (Indigenous Peoples), who lost the function of dealing with the demarcation of indigenous lands.

The approved report withdrew the ANA from the Environment and transferred it to Regional Development —a portfolio commanded by Waldez Góes (PDT), appointed by parliamentarians from the União Brasil.

The CAR, an instrument to control private lands and conflicts in preservation areas, also came out of the ministry headed by Marina and was allocated under Management and Innovation in Public Services, headed by Esther Dweck.

Afraid of greater defeats, the government decided not to fight to maintain its original proposal related to the environmental area.

A day earlier, on Tuesday (30), the Chamber of Deputies also approved the bill for the timeframe, in yet another victory for the ruralist group over the government’s environmental agenda.

The landmark thesis, defended by the FPA, determines that indigenous lands must be restricted to the area occupied by the peoples on the date of enactment of the Federal Constitution of 1988.

In addition, Marina Silva faces a dispute within the government itself over the possibility of oil exploration in Foz do Amazonas. The measure has the support of part of the political core and the Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira.

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