In Washington, WBO defends stricter international rules and more resources to protect the Amazon
WBO Press Release
May 21 2024
The WBO (Washington Brazil Office) promoted on May 14th, at the Congressional Auditorium & Atrium Capitol Visitor Center (CVC 200), the event called “Brazilian Amazon: Bilateral Cooperation in Times of Crisis”.
The intention was to reflect on the role that the US Congress can have in formulating and enforcing its legislation with regard to relations between private companies in that country and illegal mining in the Amazon. This mining results in an industry that exploits resources excessively, causing harmful consequences for Brazilian indigenous peoples, the Amazon and, consequently, for humanity in general. Furthermore, the group addressed the importance of international financing for preservation actions, in the context of the Biden government's pledges of contributions to the Amazon Fund.
The panel was coordinated by Juliana de Moraes Pinheiro, coordinator of the WBO's Socio-Environmental and Just Transition Program, responsible for conceiving and holding the session in the American Congress, and had as keynote speaker (via Zoom) Congresswoman Célia Xakriabá, who made history in 2022 by becoming the first Indigenous woman to be elected by Minas Gerais, securing 101,078 votes. The panel was made up of Caetano Scannavino, social entrepreneur and coordinator of the NGO Projeto Saúde & Alegria - PSA in Alter do Chão, Pará; Daniel Brindis, specialist in Environmental Law and Human Rights, who is deputy director of Canopy Planet working on Market Campaigns and the role of the private sector in sustainability; Anna McDonald, legislative director in the Office of Representative Sidney Kamlager-Dove, co-leader of the Brazil Caucus in the United States Chamber of Congress; and by Sarina Weiss, Staff Director for the Energy and Minerals Resources Subcommittee, House of Natural Resources Committee.
Objectives, in detail:
Gold mining. The first objective was to provide information and arguments that give new impetus to the proposal made in August 2021 for American legislators to amend the Lacey Act, the American law that deals with the exploitation of natural resources. The law, originally approved in 1900, concerned domestic rules for the exploration and transportation of natural resources. Two amendments, made in 1981 and 2008, expanded the scope of this law, in order to also impose strict control on the import of resources arising from illegal deforestation and child labor. What the WBO and its partner organizations have proposed is that the law could eventually consider the inclusion of other natural resources extracted illegally and unregulated, such as gold and other minerals around the world, in order to put pressure on American companies that eventually can benefit from the exploration of these resources in places like the Brazilian Amazon. Considering that the draft of the new amendment is already ready, the WBO's contribution remains as a focal point with the technical team working on it.
The primary interlocutor for the WBO and its affiliates regarding the Lacey Act amendment has been the Director of Public Engagement at the Natural Resources Commission, Marilyn Zepeda, and the Staff Director at the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources of the Natural Resources Commission. United States House of Representatives, Sarina Weiss. Director Marilyn Zepeda was in Pará, in 2021 at the invitation of the WBO, in collaboration with PSA, Greenpeace Brasil and GT Infra, where she carried out a field visit.
Amazon Fund. The second objective was to boost US contributions to the Amazon Fund. American President Joe Biden had promised to release US$500 million over five years. By May 2024, just over US$3 million had been released. Another US$47 million had been promised by the end of the year. On April 29, a group of 15 Democratic parliamentarians made a formal request to the Budget Committee of the Chamber of Deputies to release the US$100 million promised for the fund in the next fiscal year.
In the case of the articulation for the release of funds from the Amazon Fund, the main interlocutor has been Anna McDonald, director of Legislation in the office of Congresswoman Sidney Kamlager-Dove, who is co-leader of the Brazil Caucus in the Chamber of Deputies in the American Congress.
Statements
“It is also important to demand that the USA do its part both in reducing its emissions and in international cooperation for the standing forest. After all, the Amazon generates global ecosystem benefits, but conservation costs remain local”, said Caetano Scannavino, social entrepreneur and coordinator of the NGO Projeto Saúde & Alegria - PSA, who was at the table organized by the WBO at the American Congress on May 14.
“The WBO and Brazilian civil society organizations presented to advisors and other members of parliamentary teams in the American Congress aspects of the impact of illegal gold mining in the Amazon and the need to promote solutions that protect indigenous peoples and promote a diversified and sustainable economy. sustainable in the Amazon. We talked about the role of the American market in this and encouraged parliamentary teams to explore proposals that already exist on how to use controls similar to those in the Lacey Act, which deals with the illegal import of timber into the US, to also address the import of gold illegal, which is devastating the Amazon and local populations”, said Daniel Brindis, deputy director of Canopy Planet working on the role of the private sector in sustainability.
The Director of Public Engagement for the US House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources, Marilyn Zepeda, said upon leaving the event that the WBO and partner organizations “shared information about what is happening regarding illegal mining in the Amazon.” in the American Congress. She also said that “a lot of the work being done here today is to try to see what role the US can play in the illegal extraction of gold from the Amazon.” Marilyn Zepeda also said that “an amendment to the Lacey Act would give us the authority to expand [the legal guarantees] and to include certain minerals, which may be banned from illegal exploitation, in the same way that the law currently works in the case of extraction timber and illegal logging activities. We hope to promote changes and combat deforestation and water contamination in the Amazon.”
“Between 2019 and 2022, Brazil had records of deforestation in the Amazon, putting the world on alert. This period was marked by an institutional crisis, where the rise of a denialist government weakened environmental agencies and ignored environmental laws recognized as the most complete in the world. Today, we see that climate impacts persist beyond government mandates and national borders," said Juliana de Moraes Pinheiro, coordinator of WBO's Socio-Environment and Just Transition Program.
"Countries rich in natural resources, like Brazil, need to recognize their unique potential, combat environmental crimes and better position themselves as providers of solutions to the climate crisis. It is necessary to demand that countries that profit from the extraction of resources outside their territories for centuries contribute positively to combating the crisis, which is global. Leaders and legislators around the world must cooperate to ensure the adequate implementation of environment legislation and the climate framework”, she concluded.
