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An agent of the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) inspects a tree extracted from the Amazon rainforest, in a sawmill during an operation to combat deforestation, in Placas, Para State, Brazil January 20, 2023. "Our current knowledge of the functioning of the Congo Basin ecosystem is really very, very limited." The Democratic Republic of the Congo, home to most of the forest, had the second highest rate of tree cover loss in the world last year after Brazil, according to Global Forest Watch. The scientific effort is modelled on the Science Panel for the Amazon that in 2021 issued a roughly 1,300 page report summarising the scientific consensus on the Amazon rainforest, the world's largest. More than 300 scientists are expected to contribute to the Congo report, Tshimanga said.

Persons: Ueslei Marcelino, Raphaël Tshimanga, Tshimanga, Jake Spring, Barbara Lewis Organizations: Brazilian Institute for, Environment, Natural Resources, REUTERS, SAO PAULO, United, Sunday, United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions, University of Kinshasa, Democratic, Global Forest Watch, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Placas, Para State, Brazil, United Nations, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo

☆ Exclusive: World's top MDBs to launch debt-for-nature swap 'task force' - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The task force creation is the most significant step so far in showing that the global club of multilateral lenders, which between them have trillions of dollars worth of firepower, will significantly ramp up their support for these deals. Four sources involved in the plans, which are expected to be announced at the COP summit's 'finance day' on Monday, say the group will formally be called the "Task Force on Sustainability-linked Sovereign Financing for Nature and Climate". It will initially be chaired by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and U.S. government's Development Finance Institution (DFC), said three of the sources with direct knowledge of the matter. Both lenders have been involved in all the recent swaps which have also included Barbados and Gabon. At their simplest, the swaps work by buying up a country's bonds, often at a discount, and then replacing them with cheaper eco-labelled ones that come with the special MDB guarantees.

Persons: Chico Mendes, Amanda Perobelli, MDBs, Marc Jones, Christina Fincher Organizations: Chico, Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation, Institute for, Environment, Resources, REUTERS, Reuters, Force, Sustainability, Nature, Inter, American Development Bank, government's Development Finance, World Bank, European Investment Bank, Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, ADB, Infrastructure Development Bank, Reuters Graphics, Conservancy, Thomson Locations: Pocone, Mato Grosso, Brazil, Belize, Barbados, Gabon, Beijing, U.S, Sri Lanka, Zambia, Kenya, Tanzania, Colombia, Ecuador

An Indigenous named Raimundo Praia from Mura people looks on in a deforested area of a non-demarcated indigenous land in the Amazon rainforest near Humaita, Amazonas State, Brazil, August 20, 2019. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsCompanies Brazil Potash Corp FollowBRASILIA, Oct 18 (Reuters) - A federal appeals court has overturned an injunction suspending the license for Canadian firm Brazil Potash Corp to build Latin America's largest fertilizer mine in the Amazon rainforest. She also ruled that a license must come from federal environmental agency IBAMA and not state agency IPAAM. Brazil Potash on Wednesday declined to comment on the ruling, which was based on an appeal by the state environmental agency IPAAM. Brazil Potash says it would have minor environmental impact because salt separated from the potash at a processing plant would be returned underground.

Persons: Raimundo, Ueslei Marcelino, IPAAM, Jaiza, Alexandre Silveira, Silveira, Soares, Joenia Wapichana, Sergio Mura, Stan Bharti's Forbes, Governor Wilson Lima, Anthony Boadle, Marguerita Choy, Bill Berkrot, Diane Craft Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Brazil, Corp, Federal Regional Tribunal, Reuters, Mines, Energy, Funai, Capital, Stan Bharti's Forbes & Manhattan Group, Thomson Locations: Raimundo Praia, Mura, Humaita, Amazonas State, Brazil, BRASILIA, Manaus, , Brasilia, Autazes, Amazonas, Toronto

☆ Brazil touts climate credentials as Amazon deforestation falls — but draws criticism over oil bet
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-29 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

It's welcome news for Lula, who has promised to achieve zero deforestation in the Amazon by 2030 and is seeking to repair his country's environmental reputation. The government, however, has received criticism over its plans to open new oil fields near the mouth of the Amazon River. Dave Benett | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty ImagesThe Amazon is critical in absorbing the planet's carbon dioxide — making it a vital bulwark in the fight against climate change. Txai Surui, an indigenous leader and activist from the Brazilian Amazon, welcomed the trend of falling Amazon deforestation but criticized Lula's administration for its willingness to potentially develop offshore oil. "How are you doing agreements about deforestation and all these things and yet you want to explore [for oil]?"

Persons: Michael Dantas, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Lula, Jair Bolsonaro's, Guajajara, Bolsonaro, Sonia Guajajara, Txai Surui, Dave Benett, Buda Mendes, Rui Costa, Costa, Lula's, Surui, Brazil's, Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Andressa Anholete, Guillermo Lasso, Tipping, Brazil's Guajajara Organizations: Afp, Getty, CNBC, IBAMA, FUNAI, Indigenous Peoples, Petrobras, Reuters, Amazon, Nature Sustainability, U.N Locations: Manaquiri, Amazonas, London, Indigenous Peoples of Brazil, Annabel's, England, Brazil, Maracana, Rio de Janeiro, Buda, Planalto, Brasilia, Ecuador

☆ Protesters oppose Petrobras oil exploration plan at mouth of Amazon river
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The logo of Brazil's state-run Petrobras oil company is seen on a tank in at Petrobras Paulinia refinery in Paulinia, Brazil July 1, 2017. REUTERS/Paulo Whitaker/File PhotoBELEM, Brazil, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Environmental demonstrators protested on Sunday against plans by Brazilian state-run oil company Petrobras (PETR4.SA) to drill for oil at the mouth of the Amazon river. Petrobras has appealed against a decision by Brazil's environmental protection agency, Ibama, to deny it permission to drill an exploratory well at the mouth of the Amazon, saying the request lacked an environmental assessment of the project. It reaches a technical opinion that must be obeyed," said the minister, who has opposed the plan to drill at the mouth of the Amazon. Lula said Guyana's president would like Petrobras to explore for oil off-shore from his country.

Persons: Paulo Whitaker, Luis Barbosa, Marina Silva, Ibama, Silva, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Lula, Leonardo Benassatto, Leslie Adler Organizations: Petrobras Paulinia, REUTERS, Environmental, Petrobras, PETR4, Amazon, Thomson Locations: Paulinia, Brazil, BELEM, Amazon, Suriname, Guyana, Amapá

The decree fulfills a campaign promise by Lula, who criticized looser gun controls under Bolsonaro, arguing they were responsible for a wave of political violence during last year's election. The country has nearly 800,000 registered gun owners, up from 117,467 in 2018 when Bolsonaro was elected, according to the 2023 Brazilian Yearbook of Public Security. Lula's decree rolled back firearms access for that group. Lula's decree also closes a loophole that allowed many gun owners to go out in public with loaded weapons if they claimed to be going to a gun club. Gun owners who bought their weapons during the previous administration will not be forced to give them up, but the decree envisages a buyback program starting this year.

Persons: Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Jair Bolsonaro, Lula, Bolsonaro, Lula's, Lisandra, Gabriel Stargardter, Brad Haynes, David Holmes, Richard Chang Organizations: of Public Security, Brazilian Armed Forces, CAC, Gun, Thomson Locations: BRASILIA, Brazil, Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro

☆ Petrobras eyes global expansion as Brazil hopes fade, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Marta Nogueira | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/3] A worker walks inside the Brazil's Petrobras P-66 oil rig in the offshore Santos basin in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil September 5, 2018. Petrobras' main bet on replenishing its reserves had been the Equatorial Margin, some 2,200 km of deepwater and ultra-deepwater assets along Brazil's northern and northeastern coast. According to one of the sources, the Equatorial Margin has been the company's "Plan A, B, and C" for restocking reserves. In March, Reuters reported that Petrobras was among at least 10 companies including Shell and Chevron to consider bidding on a Guyana oil auction, now scheduled for July. Such projects could also add scope for foreign expansion, said Mauricio Tolmasquim, Petrobras' chief energy transition and sustainability officer.

Persons: Pilar Olivares, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Ibama, Jean Paul Prates, Prates, Lula, Mauricio Tolmasquim, Marta Nogueira, Gabriel Stargardter, David Gregorio Our Organizations: Petrobras, REUTERS, RIO DE, Brazil's Petrobras, Reuters, Petroleo, government's Energy Research, Ocean, Exxon Mobil, Estado, S, Shell, Chevron, Brazil, Thomson Locations: Santos, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, RIO, RIO DE JANEIRO, Foz de Amazonas, Guyana, Suriname, Colombia, Argentina, Bolivia

[1/2] A logo of Brazil's state-run Petrobras oil company is seen at its headquarters in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil October 16, 2019. REUTERS/Sergio MoraesSAO PAULO, May 18 (Reuters) - A decision by Brazil's environmental regulator to block state-owned oil company Petrobras' Amazon oil project has exposed tensions in President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's coalition between green advocates and those prioritizing economic development. Ibama, late on Wednesday, said it would block a request by state-run oil giant Petrobras (PETR4.SA) to drill at the Amazon mouth near Amapá, in a much-awaited decision that followed a technical recommendation by Ibama experts to reject the project. The decision by Ibama, which is overseen by Lula's environment minister, the globally recognized environmentalist Marina Silva, has riled some within the governing coalition. "We'll fight against this decision," Rodrigues wrote on Twitter, adding that "the people of Amapa want to have the right to be heard".

☆ Brazil environment agency rejects Petrobras' request to drill at Amazon
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRASILIA, May 17 (Reuters) - The Brazilian environmental protection agency Ibama said on Wednesday it had rejected a request from state-run oil company Petrobras (PETR4.SA) to drill a well at the mouth of the Amazon river. The much-awaited decision follows a technical recommendation by the agency's experts to reject the proposal. A technical report from Ibama had previously advised against the request, citing discrepancies in environmental studies, inadequate measures for communicating with indigenous communities, and insufficiencies in Petrobras' plan to safeguard the region's wildlife. Petrobras had several opportunities to solve controversial points of its project, but it was still presenting "worrying inconsistencies" for the operation in a new exploratory frontier of "high socio-environmental vulnerability," Ibama said in a statement. Petrobras did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

☆ Brazil police shoot dead 4 illegal gold miners on Yanomami reservation
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] A helicopter of the Brazilian Environmental Agency (IBAMA) is seen near Uraricoera river during an operation at illegal mining in the Yanomami indigenous land, Roraima state, Brazil, February 11, 2023. REUTERS/Amanda Perobelli/File PhotoBRASILIA, May 1 (Reuters) - Brazilian police and environmental protection agents were ambushed by illegal gold miners on the Yanomami Indigenous reservation in the Amazon on Monday and four miners were shot dead in the exchange of gunfire, a government statement said. The Environment Ministry said their team was attacked when they moved in to dismantle a wildcat mining camp run by an organized crime gang. Brazilian authorities are keen to show that they mean business in their efforts to remove the remainder of the wildcat miners on the reservation following the fatal shooting of a Yanomami man. Gold miners killed one man and seriously injured two others in an attack on Saturday in the Yanomami territory, where authorities have been evicting illegal miners who invaded Brazil's largest indigenous reservation, the size of Portugal.

☆ Brazil agency recommends barring Petrobras from drilling in Amazon's mouth
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( Marta Nogueira | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Signed last week by several environmental analysts from Ibama, the report also recommended the agency stop processing environmental licenses for the block. The oil block, FZA-M-59, was auctioned off by oil regulator ANP to Petrobras in 2013. According to Ibama's report, Petrobras' environmental studies still have "inconsistencies" even after a series of reviews. Petrobras and Ibama did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Another document seen by Reuters showed Werneck Sanchez Basseres, Ibama's environmental licensing coordinator for offshore oil and gas exploration, said he agreed with the report's assessment.

☆ Petrobras awaits government OK to drill at mouth of Amazon River
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRASILIA, April 29 (Reuters) - Brazilian state-run oil firm Petrobras (PETR4.SA) said on Saturday that it is awaiting the government's stance on its request to drill a well at the mouth of the Amazon River Basin, following a technical recommendation by the country's environmental agency to reject the proposal. "We're technically ready, waiting for the official position on our drilling campaign in the region," he added. But a technical report from Brazil's environmental agency Ibama has advised against the request, citing discrepancies in environmental studies, inadequate measures for communicating with indigenous communities, and insufficiencies in Petrobras' plan to safeguard the region's wildlife. The technical report will serve as the basis for the environmental agency's ultimate determination on whether or not to authorize activities in the area. Reporting by Marta Nogueira, Writing by Marcela Ayres; Editing by Andrea RicciOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

PALIMIU, Brazil—As two helicopters from Brazil’s environmental agency Ibama and the police landed in a clearing in the heart of the Amazon, the hard-bitten men who make a living illegally panning for gold here made a run for it, right into the thick of the forest. This is Yanomami land, the protected territory of one of Brazil’s biggest indigenous tribes. Or at least it is supposed to be.

☆ Elon Musk's Starlink is aiding criminal mining efforts in Brazil's Amazon
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Grace Mayer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Starlink kits are being used for illegal mining efforts in Brazil, per the Associated Press. In Brazil, Starlink internet terminals have done just that. "You can manage hundreds of mining sites without ever setting foot in one." Before Starlink's internet service, illegal miners relied on heavy, stationary antennae, but the internet connection was often unreliable, per the AP. As Musk's Starlink service becomes more and more widespread, cases of misuse are to be expected.

☆ Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon falls in first month under Lula
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Ueslei MarcelinoSAO PAULO, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon rainforest fell in January from a year earlier, satellite data showed on Friday, in the first monthly figures under President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. In mid-January, Brazilian environmental agents launched their first anti-logging raids under Lula, who has pledged to end surging destruction under his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro. The fresh figures come after Reuters reported exclusively on Thursday that the United States was considering its first contribution to a multilateral fund aimed at fighting Amazon deforestation, with a possible announcement during President Joe Biden's meeting with Lula at the White House on Friday. The Brazilian-administered Amazon Fund, supported mainly by Norway and Germany, was reactivated by Environment Minister Marina Silva the day she took office last month, after being frozen since 2019 under Bolsonaro. The Brazilian government is also fighting wildcat mining on Yanomami land in the Amazon, its largest indigenous reservation, amid a humanitarian crisis blamed on illegal gold miners.

The sharp contrast with Bolsonaro, who criticized environmental agents, was a relief to some scientists concerned that the retreating Amazon rainforest may be near a point of no return. Ibama's staffing and resources expanded in Lula's 2003-2010 presidency, when he managed to reduce Amazon deforestation by 72%. Rodrigo Agostinho, whom Lula tapped to run Ibama, told Reuters in an interview that the agency now has about 350 active field agents for all of Brazil. That is less than half what it had at the start of Bolsonaro's term and well below the 2,000 field agents at the peak of its powers, he added. Sidelining Ibama, Bolsonaro deployed the military to protect the Amazon, but their inexperience in conservation failed to lower deforestation while running up a massive bill.

☆ Brazil readies task force to expel miners from Yanomami lands, officials say
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Anthony Boadle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] A village of indigenous Yanomami is seen during Brazil's environmental agency operation against illegal gold mining on indigenous land, in the heart of the Amazon rainforest, in Roraima state, Brazil April 18, 2016. REUTERS/Bruno Kelly/File PhotoBRASILIA, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Brazil is preparing a task force of armed forces, police and government agencies to expel illegal gold miners who invaded the Yanomami indigenous reservation, officials said on Tuesday. Defense Minister Jose Mucio said the military is needed to drive out the miners, who are well armed and have helicopters. Wapichana said the task force, as in past offensives against illegal miners, will involve the Federal Police, environmental protection agency Ibama, Funai and several ministries, as well as the military. Wapichana said the government will move against the organized crime and financial groups that supply and fund the illegal mining, and launder the gold.

Reuters exclusively accompanied raids led by environmental agency Ibama in the rainforest state of Para to stop loggers and ranchers illegally clearing the forest. The agency has also launched raids this week in the states of Roraima and Acre, Ibama environmental enforcement coordinator Tatiane Leite said. Lula on the campaign trail last year pledged to put Ibama back in charge of combating deforestation with beefed-up funding and personnel. But Ibama agents told Reuters that they already felt more empowered by Lula announcing environmental protection as a top priority. His government instituted a gag order forbidding Ibama agents from speaking to the press, which agents say has already been reversed under Lula.

Although Lula's 2003-2010 presidency effectively reduced destruction of the rainforest, he embraced traditional industrial development with little regard for emissions. In the United States, the progressive Green New Deal languished in Congress, while President Joe Biden adapted some of the ideas for his climate agenda. Marcio Astrini, the head of environmental lobby group Climate Observatory, said Lula's proposals were a promising blueprint, but added: "Whether it will happen in practice is another matter." By contrast, Bolsonaro's campaign has said little about his environmental proposals for a second term. [1/3] Macaws sit on a tree at the Amazon rainforest in Manaus, Amazonas State, Brazil October 26, 2022.

[1/4] An aerial view shows a deforested plot of the Amazon rainforest in Manaus, Amazonas State, Brazil July 8, 2022. REUTERS/Bruno Kelly/File PhotoSAO PAULO, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Brazil's presidential election on Sunday may determine the fate of the Amazon jungle, the world's largest rainforest, after deforestation soared in the past four years under President Jair Bolsonaro. Destruction in the Amazon rainforest last year hit the highest level since 2006, according to the government's space research agency INPE. Lula took office in 2003 with levels of Amazon deforestation near all-time highs. By 2010, his last year in office, deforestation had fallen by 72% to near record lows.

☆ Can sustainable soya farming come fast enough to save the Cerrado?
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Mark Hillsdon | Mark Hillsdon Is A Manchester-Based Freelance Writer Who Writes On Business | Sustainability For The Ethical Corporation | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +12 min

“Crop finance is a key part of soy farmers' business models and there is a huge appetite and market for green finance,” he explains. It’s a message consistent with the UK Soy Manifesto, which now covers 60% of the soy coming into the UK. Unlocking green investment means this can now happen, he adds, by supporting sustainable agriculture and protecting forests in a financially sustainable way that rewards farmers. And ultimately it is the involvement of these traders in screening out “bad soy” on which any sustainable soy scheme succeeds or fails. The Retail Soy Group’s roadmap commits members to deforestation-free soy with a cut-off-date of August 2020, but soy traders aren’t following these guidelines, says Wijeratna.

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