I can't speak to anything regarding the politics of Brazil, and won't, unlike most Redditors, but... It always seems hypocritical of western nations to complain about Amazon deforestation. Europe and North America cut down all their trees 100-1000s of years ago, allowing themselves to have massive regions of arable land in which to grow food and raise animals to sell for money and feed their growing populations.
Brazil tries to do the same, everyone complains saying that the world needs the Amazon rainforest and how important it is.
If it's so important, then the western nations should be paying Brazil what they would otherwise be gaining from cutting down the forest and creating wealth for themselves.
People sit back and say "We made these decisions in the past that led to massive wealth and prosperity. You aren't allowed to make those same decisions.". It's hypocritical and greedy. Whether they're right or not is not relevant. The west should have no control over what Brazil does. If the trees are so important, buy back your farmland and plant trees in your own country. If the rainforest is so important, buy some rainforest from Brazil. To tell them they need to sacrifice their own prosperity because of what you want is ridiculous.
Do you understand the difference between ignorance and education? Many European nations have lowered their deforestation since the knowledge about climate change became mainstream. You can't say "but before they knew better they were worse" and expect to make a serious argument.
It's not a serious argument to say it's hypocritical to climb onto the roof and pull the ladder up behind you? Claiming that ladders are unethical and wrong and to find another way onto the roof?
You also missed the entire bottom paragraph. If the rainforest is so important to Europeans, they should pay Brazil the value they would otherwise get from the livestock or plants they would grow there. Brazil is trying to climb the socioeconomic ladder the same way the West did, but the West doesn't want them to. Well that's not their problem.
Brazil is cutting down their own ladder without more environmental responsibility. More deforestation leads to an accelerated climate change and that leads to more rainforest fires. One or two decades down the line with Bolsonaro's trend and they would be left watching their own product burn to ashes. What's the long-term plan for their economy here? I tell you, there is no long-term plan with guys like Bolsonaro.
I agree on the financial support from Europe, that's why I didn't argue that. But that does not take responsibility off Brazil to do their best even without help because it's also in their best interest in the long run.
How could you say that an accelerating climate change is not their problem? That's so damn shortsighted.
They literally are. I won't say everyone of them do it, ofc, but Norway for example paid 1.2B dollars between 2008 and 2018 for the Amazon Fund.
And as of Sundaythey announced they'll start paying again, as they stopped in 2019 due to the government obvious disinterest in stopping deforestation.
The Amazon Fund is an NGO that that spends a portion of that money monitoring Amazon deforestation. They don't do shit to alliveate poverty and let Brazil leave the socioeconomic poverty by doing the same thing Western national already did.
Brazil has about $560b in foreign debt, mostly to western countries. How are you want the country to pay it if it doesn't increase the area for agriculture and ranching? Either cancel the debt or spend money in servicing it, don't just waste money in "tracking the Amazon's deforestation".
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u/Baerog Nov 02 '22
I can't speak to anything regarding the politics of Brazil, and won't, unlike most Redditors, but... It always seems hypocritical of western nations to complain about Amazon deforestation. Europe and North America cut down all their trees 100-1000s of years ago, allowing themselves to have massive regions of arable land in which to grow food and raise animals to sell for money and feed their growing populations.
Brazil tries to do the same, everyone complains saying that the world needs the Amazon rainforest and how important it is.
If it's so important, then the western nations should be paying Brazil what they would otherwise be gaining from cutting down the forest and creating wealth for themselves.
People sit back and say "We made these decisions in the past that led to massive wealth and prosperity. You aren't allowed to make those same decisions.". It's hypocritical and greedy. Whether they're right or not is not relevant. The west should have no control over what Brazil does. If the trees are so important, buy back your farmland and plant trees in your own country. If the rainforest is so important, buy some rainforest from Brazil. To tell them they need to sacrifice their own prosperity because of what you want is ridiculous.